Recipe#26771

Title: Crawfish Bisque

rec.food.recipes archive

Crawfish Bisque (crayfish)
 
20 lbs. medium to large crayfish
Roux(gravy)
1 cup flour
1 can tomato sauce
3 onions
4 ribs celery
1 bell pepper
1/2 cup crayfish fat
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 quarts water
2 quarts hot water
2 bay leaves
1 sliced lemon
1/2 the crayfish tails
 
Stuffing for crayfish heads
 
2/3 cup bacon fat
2 ribs celery
10 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parsley
2 onions
1 bell pepper
1/2 crayfish tails
1/2 bunch green onion tops
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red pepper
1 tsp thyme
Juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning
1 Tbsp salt
1.5 cups stale French bread crumbs
1/2 cup crayfish fat
 
Cook crayfish in almost boiling water for 20 minutes. Remove and
drain. Peel the tails and clean the heads. Save all the yellow fat
in separate container.  Save the cleaned heads to be stuffed.
 
Make a roux,(gravy) stirring constantly until golden brown. Add
the tomato sauce. Grind the onions, garlic, celery, and bell pepper
in a food processor or blender. Cook in the roux,(gravy)until
tender.  Slowly stir in 2 qts of water. Add 2 more cups of hot
water, then stir until boiling. Add bay leaves, lower heat, and
simmer for 40-45 minutes. Add lemon slices, crayfish tails and
stuffed heads about 10 minutes before serving.
 
For the stuffing: Grind the onions, bell pepper, celery, garlic
and parsley.
 
Cook in fat until tender. Grind the crayfish tails and green onions.
Add to above mixture. Stir in all the seasonings mixing thoroughly.
Add 1 cup French bread crumbs (save 1/2 cup to roll the heads in).
Use crayfish fat and enough warm water to get the stuffing to the
proper consistency. Stuff the crayfish heads, then roll them in
the French bread crumbs, and bake for 20 minutes in a 450 degree
oven. Drop a few of the stuffed heads into each soup bowl with the
gravy mixture. Goes great served over a bed of steamed rice.  Serves
up to 20 people.