Crawfish Bread
"In New Orleans, at Jazz Fest every year, one vendor sells this stuff..there's always a long line to get it, and my Fest isn't complete until I have it. While their filling is baked into the loaf, this is a wonderful substitute . I'm posting it to share with everyone, but mostly to have it in my cookbook here. The servings depend on how large you cut the pieces and how hungry you are. Warning, this is highly addictive."
- Ready In:
- 37mins
- Ingredients:
- 23
- Yields:
-
4 loaves
ingredients
- 1⁄2 cup butter, softened
- 1⁄2 cup chopped onion
- 1⁄2 cup chopped bell pepper
- 1⁄4 cup chopped celery
- 1⁄4 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth or 1 cup clam juice
- 1⁄3 cup prepared roux
- 1⁄8 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1⁄8 teaspoon sweet basil
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 lbs crawfish tails, with fat
- 1⁄2 cup ripe tomatoes, finely diced
- 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can Campbell's cream of shrimp soup
- 1⁄4 cup chopped parsley
- 1⁄3 cup sliced green onion
- 1⁄4 teaspoon cajun seasoning
- 1⁄8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt (if needed)
- 8 ounces shredded colby
- 8 ounces shredded monterey jack cheese
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 4 loaves French bread, twin shorties
directions
- In a large heavy skillet, melt the butter and heat it until it bubbles. Then lower the heat and add the chopped onions, bell pepper, and celery.
- Sauté the mixture until the veggies turn limp, but do not let them brown (figure that it should take about three minutes).
- Next add the wine to the seasoning base and bring it to a boil.
- Then, after about a minute, pour in the clam juice (or broth) and add to it the prepared roux, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic.
- At this point, return the mixture to a boil once again but immediately lower the heat and simmer everything together for about five minutes more or until thickened.
- Now add the crawfish tails, diced tomatoes, cream of shrimp soup, parsley, green onions, seafood seasoning, and salt (if needed).
- When everything is thoroughly combined, simmer the skillet for about 8 to 10 minutes or until you can pick up the sauce with a fork.
- All that's left to do is to slice the loaves of bread lengthwise and sprinkle each half with a thin but complete layer of cheese.
- Then place the bread onto a sheet pan and slide it under a hot broiler or toaster oven until the cheese fully melts.
- Finally, take the bread halves out of the oven, generously spoon the crawfish sauce down the center of each loaf, then top them liberally with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
- Return the Crawfish Bread to the oven one more time, but only until the sauce begins to bubble.
- Then slice the "breads" into appropriate individual portions and serve the pieces piping hot.
- Outstanding with a frosty "brewskie" in a tall frosted glass!
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Reviews
-
The recipe can be cut in half, and still have enough for two loaves of french bread, but the taste is out of this world. Instead of fresh tomatos, I used a can of Rotel's, and that added a bit of zing to the mixture. It's on the regular rotation! -
Oh wow, this was fantastic! I cut the recipe in half and could have eaten the whole two loaves by myself. Outstanding flavor!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I'm married, (almost 30 yrs), to my best friend and fellow foodie. My Icon picture is us in '78. We got married on my Birthday. We have 3 children, and just had our 4th grand (the 1st girl!!)
We moved to New Orleans from Ky in 1999 because 2 of our kids were down here having families and I sure didn't want to be a long distance grandma..so we packed up and rented out our house and there we were. I loved that city. Besides my family, of course, I love cooking, cook books, reading,(and reading cookbooks!) my cat, needlework, gardening (but haven't done too much of that here), music,learning about this computer,discovering hidden treasures in the form of restaraunts in New Orleans--I'm not kidding, that place had more places to eat than I have ever seen... and there are so many good ones the bad and mediocre ones don't last long. I also enjoy making food baskets for the holidays, putting in things I have made from candies, breads and cookies to jellies & pickles. We have a cat, Noodle, who survived the "Storm who will not be named" a 19 pound ball of fur love. Now that we've in N.W. Louisiana for almost 2 years, I'm coming out of my culture shock...just because it's Loisiana doesn't mean the food is like New Orleans, in fact this area is more Tex-Mex with a little country thrown in... your basic average good food. Still looking for a place to make me say "WOW" !! I've decided to up date this a little, and it looks like we will be staying here in NW Louisiana for a while anyway. I have found a home here, a wonderful Church a few good places to eat, some beautiful friends..Life does indeed, go on..
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