Crawfishing for a good recipe? Here’s our top 5 favorites | Food/Recipes

It is peak crawfish time, and we’re doing our best to eat all we can.

But a person cannot live by boiled crawfish alone (oh wait, we probably can). 

In case you’re looking for other ways to serve our most favorite of foods, we came up with our five most-requested recipes.

First up, crawfish bisque. This recipe gives you all the flavor but with a lot less time and effort. Instead of stuffed crawfish shells, this bisque has crawfish balls that are baked in the oven then steeped in that delicious roux-based gravy.

From Corinne Cook, a longtime food writer, comes our recipes for mini crawfish pies and crawfish étouffée.

The mini pies are super easy to make, and the étouffée is a great way to use crawfish leftover from a boil.

We also have Corinne to thank for the Crawfish and Artichoke Bisque recipe she brought to us from Patrick Mould’s cookbook, “Recipes From a Chef.” It is definitely a favorite with out readers.

And, finally, while we know it’s not king cake season, can anyone really object to Crawfish King Cake? We think not.

The recipe is from the late Holly Clegg, who certainly knew her way around a crawfish recipe.

Crawfish Bisque Balls

Serve over rice. Recipe adapted by Jay Martin from recipe by his mom, Pat Martin.

BISQUE

1 medium onion, minced

4 shallots, minced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small can tomatoes

½ pound crawfish tails

Salt and red pepper to taste

1 clove garlic

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon chopped celery leaves

1 tablespoon minced parsley

1 teaspoon thyme

1. Sauté onion and shallots in vegetable oil.

2. Make a roux with flour and oil (over a medium-high heat, stir constantly until dark brown). Add onion mixture to roux.

3. Add tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Add crawfish tails and rest of seasonings.

5. Add 4 cups water and let simmer while making crawfish balls.

CRAWFISH BALLS

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

½ pound peeled crawfish tails

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon thyme

1 egg, lightly beaten

Salt and red pepper to taste

1. Saute onion in butter until tender.

2. Using a food processor, chop crawfish tails coarsely.

3. In a separate bowl, combine crawfish with cooked onions.

4. Mix together breadcrumbs, parsley and thyme. Add to crawfish mixture with egg, salt and red pepper.

5. Form into small balls and place on greased baking sheet. Dot each ball with butter.

6. Bake at 350 F for about 10 minutes (until lightly browned).

7. Add balls to bisque and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Crawfish Pies

Makes 15 or 17 individual pies. Recipe adapted by Corinne Cook.

1 stick butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (10 ¾-ounce) can condensed cream of shrimp soup

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 small can (5-ounce) evaporated milk

¼ cup chopped green onions

1 pound crawfish tails

Salt and cayenne pepper, to taste

15 to 17 (3-inch) frozen pie shells

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. In medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt margarine or butter and sauté onion until tender. Add soup. Stir often.

3. In small bowl, add cornstarch and slowly stir in evaporated milk until well blended. Stir milk mixture into onion and soup mixture in saucepan. Continue to cook until everything is blended.

4. Add green onion, crawfish tails, salt and cayenne. Continue to cook 10 minutes. Fill pie shells and bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Crawfish Étouffée

Serves 4 to 6. Recipe is by Corinne Cook.

1 stick butter

1½ tablespoons flour

¾ cup chopped celery

¾ cup chopped green bell pepper

¾ cup chopped onion

1 pound crawfish tails

Salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste

¼ cup chopped green onion

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Hot cooked rice

1. In a heavy pot, melt butter and stir in flour. Stir constantly over medium heat until roux is the color of peanut butter.

2. Turn heat to low and add chopped celery, bell pepper and onion. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir often.

3. Add crawfish tails and cover pot. Cook over low heat 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure mixture is not sticking.

4. Season with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Add green onions and parsley.

6. Serve over hot rice.

Crawfish and Artichoke Bisque

Serves 6-8. Recipe is from Patrick Mould’s “Recipes From a Chef.”

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped green bell pepper

¼ cup chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

2 bay leaves

2 (14-ounce) cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained and any tough outer leaves removed

½ cup flour

2 cups chicken broth

3 cups half-and-half

1 pound peeled crawfish tails

1 teaspoon hot sauce

½ cup chopped green onion

¼ cup minced fresh parsley

1. Heat butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, bell peppers, garlic, thyme and bay leaves, cook for 5 minutes.

2. Add artichoke hearts and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add flour and stir until incorporated.

3. Stir in chicken broth and cook for 2 minutes or until chicken broth starts to thicken. Stir in half-and-half and simmer (low heat) for 2 minutes until bisque is smooth and creamy.

4. Add crawfish tails and hot sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.

5. Stir in green onions and fresh parsley.

6. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Louisiana Crawfish King Cake

Makes 14 servings. Adapted by Holly Clegg from her “Gulf Coast Favorites” cookbook.

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped red or green bell pepper

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup Louisiana crawfish tails, drained and rinsed

⅓ cup chopped green onion

3 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese

2 (8-ounce) cans reduced-fat crescent rolls

Topping

1. Preheat oven 350 F. Line a 10-inch round pizza pan with foil then coat with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray, sauté onion, red pepper and garlic until tender. Add crawfish, green onion and cream cheese, stirring until creamy. Remove from heat.

3. Separate crescent rolls at perforations into 16 slices. Place slices around prepared pan with points in the center. About halfway down from points, press seams together.

4. Spread crawfish mixture on dough in the ce
nter where seams have been pressed together. Fold dough points over filling, then fold bottom of triangle over points forming circular roll like king cake.

5. Bake about 20–25 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with Mardi Gras Topping (below).

MARDI GRAS TOPPING

6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Yellow, green, red and blue food coloring

1. Divide cheese into three small bowls. Add a few drops of yellow food coloring to one bowl and a few drops of green food coloring to the next. In the last bowl, add equal amounts of red and blue food coloring; mix to make purple.

2. Sprinkle cheese over baked king cake. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until cheese melted.

Nutritional information per serving: calories 136, calories from fat 46%, fat 7g, saturated fat 2g, cholesterol 26mg, sodium 317mg, carbohydrate 15g, dietary fiber 0g, sugars 3g, protein 6g. Dietary Exchanges: 1 starch, ½ lean meat, 1 fat