Etouffee!

Oh yum. This hit the spot. Like Mardi Gras in my mouth.

I found this recipe in a Cajun cookbook that was lying around my house, only I have no idea where it went to tell you which one it was.

*DISCLAIMER: I know I told some of you that I'd have you over for etouffee this week, but I wanted to try this recipe first to make sure it didn't suck before I served it to a bunch of people. It has been approved.

The etouffee in my picture is not as thick as it should be. I must have messed up somewhere when I was trying to quarter the recipe. What it lacks in thickness, it sure makes up for in taste. Holy cow, this was good. So good it even made me slow down and savor every bite.

Get some ingredients and make this.

Etouffee

1 stick butter
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped green bell pepper
1/2 c. chopped green onion
1/4 c. parsley
2 c. water
1 t. salt (My shrimp was pre-cooked and was packaged with salt, which I realized when I tasted it and it was a smidge salty- check and see. I remedied it by sticking a some small chunks of potato in there for a while.)
1/2 t. cayenne pepper (I added more for a kick)
1/4 t. black pepper
1 1/2 - 2 lb seafood (fresh or pre-cooked and frozen. Crawfish is best- Shrimp is good too.)
2 t. corn starch

If you're using frozen seafood, take it out to thaw- and toss one down to your frantic-looking cat who has come over to investigate what's going on in the kitchen and smelled seafood.

Melt the butter in a pot. Saute the veggies for a while until they're soft and the butter starts to brown.

Add 1 3/4 c. water and all of the other ingredients EXCEPT cornstarch into the pot. Boil that for 20 minutes, stirring often.

Mix the corn starch with the 1/4 c. water left over and mix that into the pot. Cook for 10-15 more minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Makes ~ 6 servings, depending on your appetite.

Serve it hot over rice and think of New Orleans and zydeco music.