Crawfish Boil & A Sack Of Taters

Thank goodness it is spring time! I bet you thought I dropped off the face of the earth, well good news, I’m still here.  I have adjusted my approach to the blog and decided that it doesn’t have to be perfect with long explanations and perfectly cropped and airbrushed photos my projects. This is my way of sharing my excitement for homemaking and creating and its coming to you live and in color straight from the heart, and yes, most of the time direct from my iPhone.

Today it is Crawfish Boil Potato Salad.  My beautiful sister celebrated her birthday a week before Easter and I came away with left over crawfish, potatoes and corn.  What does one do with so many leftovers? Well invent recipes of course. 

I am giving you approximate measurements here, as with any potato salad, it's a matter of taste.  Here’s what you will need.

3 lbs. of small red potatoes cooked in crawfish boil
1 large stalk of celery
2 green onions chopped
½ jar of pimentos
½ to 1 cup of mayonnaise
¼ to ½ cup of spicy brown mustard
¼ cup horseradish sauce
Splash of lemon juice
Tony Chachere’s Cajun Seasoning
Salt & Pepper

Here’s what I did. This was two gallon size freezer bags of potatoes.  I started by using my paring knife to peel mostly around the center of the potatoes.  I like a little potato peel in my salad to keep it rustic, but too much gets in the way and interferes with the flavor in my opinion.  Then I cubed them and added them to my large bowl. 

I chopped 1 large stalk of celery, 2 green onions and added those to the bowl, along with ½ a jar of pimentos, mayonnaise, spicy brown mustard, horseradish sauce and lemon juice.  I seasoned with salt, pepper and the beloved Tony Chachere’s Cajun Seasoning.  Because the potatoes had been refrigerated for a week I used a potato masher to give them a little smashing and get the texture I wanted.  I mixed this all together and put in a container overnight.

The next day I tasted the potato salad again and decided on a little extra mayo, and another hit of Tony’s.  The crawfish boil seasoning on the potatoes was enough that I didn’t have to work hard to season the salad.  The horseradish added a nice zing to it.  It just so happened that I picked up the ham for Easter at the Honey Baked store and couldn’t resist their horseradish sauce.  I know it is pricey, but it’s so good and I only buy it once a year.  You can use any jar horseradish you want to here, but if it is straight horseradish you might start out with a couple of tablespoons and add to your liking.

I used the leftover crawfish to make a few crawfish pies, and the spicy crawfish boil corn made the best yellow corn grits.  Needless to say we ate well for Easter, and thanks to my wonderful family for all their dishes and desserts that made it a wonderful holiday. So there you go Crawfish Boil Potato Salad.    Enjoy and remember to share with a friend. 

Feel Like Singing! Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, Filet Gumbo

I have some yummy southern goodness on the menu for today.  I got a hankering for crawfish pie this past weekend, but I am a bit indifferent to the recipe that I have for a few reasons.  1) You have to let the pie rest for quite a while before cutting or the filling falls out,  2) I don’t have enough people under my roof to finish an entire pie in one sitting, and 3) When I reheat left overs the filling tends to dry out.  Given my mental reservations I needed a solution, I decided to take my favorite recipe and make individual hand pies. 

 

Now I have to warn you my sister made a recipe from the blog recently (thanks sissy) and used what she saw in the picture without reading the details.  The result was an entire can of broth instead of the called for 1/2 cup.  She swears she liked the extra gravy, but just a quick warning to read the recipe details before attempting.

 

Here’s what you will need:

3 tablespoons butter
Drizzle of olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1/2 Cup chopped celery
1/2 Cup chopped green pepper (had a yellow on hand)
2/3 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons flour
1 pound of Louisiana crawfish tails
Salt and pepper
Dried parsley
Tony Chachere’s seasoning
Onion and garlic powder
1/3 cup of sliced green onions
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of Italian breadcrumbs
1 ½ cups of mozzarella cheese
1 egg beaten
2 packages of Pillsbury piecrust

I gathered, chopped and measured all of the ingredients.  I drizzled a few rounds of olive oil and added the butter into my large skillet, in which I sautéed the onion, celery, and pepper. 

 

 

I only had red and yellow pepper in the fridge and decided on the yellow, because I find the red is too sweet and overpowers the flavors of this dish.  I seasoned the vegetables with a palm full of parsley, and a healthy sprinkle of the seasonings listed above until I achieved the flavor and aromas I desired.  

When the vegetables were clear I added the flour and chicken broth to thicken. Next I added the crawfish tails, green onion, garlic and heated through.
 

 

I added the bread crumbs and moved it off the stove to cool slightly before adding the mozzarella.
 

 

If I were dumping into a 9 inch pie plate I would just add the cheese and spoon into the crust, cover with the second crust, cut vents, brush with egg and bake.
 

 

For the hand pies I didn’t want the melted cheese to make it all gooey so I cooled the stuffing while I prepared the crust before adding the cheese. 

 

I unrolled the pie crust and used my circle cutter, I was able to get 3 pies form each of the four crusts, I kneaded the remaining scraps, rolled them out and continued to cut.

 

 

I placed filling on the crust, brushed edges with beaten egg folded and crimped the pies with a fork.  I placed them on parchment paper on my baking sheet and baked at 350° for 25 to 35 minutes.
 

 

I was able to make 18 pies this time but I would probably have gotten 2 dozen if I had portioned the filling differently. I was out of stuffing and tired of rolling so I gave the ball of remaining crust to the 8 year old to play with, and he had a blast. 
 

 

I would say "Voila" here, but I know that this is not exactly a lightning fast meal to prepare. It is just that the end result is so worth it.  If it weren’t for the good sense of my husband I would have eaten these straight from the oven, the 2^nd degree burns seemed well worth it to me.  Thanks honey for stopping me.  So there you have it, crawfish hand pies. 

 

A friend suggested that I freeze the unbaked pies on a cookie sheet and then place the frozen pies in a plastic bag to be baked and enjoyed at a later date. Sounds like an idea to me, next time I will be sure to give that a try.

 

I got to thinking that this stuffing would be great with redfish, or catfish, or with rice stuffed in a pepper, maybe even in a thick cut pork chop.  You’d be surprised what we can stuff in the South.   So give this classic a try and remember to share with a friend.