This dish is perfect for a holiday dinner…it’s the kind of dish you create when you want to make someone feel special. It’s what I like to call “pretty food.”
So, I made it for my friends the other night. The thing is: it looks much more complicated than it really is! (If you’re noticing a theme here, you’re right…I’m like the lady in the old Rice Krispy treat commercial who’s dancing in the kitchen, eating while everyone thinks she’s working hard…and she lets them! My favorite recipes taste like they took all day…but they didn’t!)
(By the way, I would LOVE to show you a photo of this recipe, but my regular camera lens is broken. I have a telephoto lens, but let’s face it, some things are more effort than they’re worth so you’re just going to have to imagine it.)
Crawfish Elegant: Adapted from an original recipe by Jackie Kirkpatrick
Ingredients:
- 1 12 oz. package of crawfish tails
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 small bunch green onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 3 level tbsp. flour
- 1 pint half and half
- 3 tbsp. cooking sherry
- salt to taste
- red pepper to taste
- Pattie Shells (Pepperidge Farms puff pastry shells)
Use a paper towel and pat excess fat off of crawfish tails. In skillet, saute’ crawfish tails in 1/4 cup butter for 10 minutes. In another skillet, saute’ green onions and parsely in remaining butter. Blend flour into onion mixture then gradually add half and half, stirring constantly to make a thick sauce. Add sherry, then crawfish tails and simmer. (Be careful not to include the fat on the bottom of the crawfish tails’ skillet.) Salt and red pepper to taste. Serve in prepared pattie shells. The crawfish mixture freezes well.
A couple of thoughts from my experience:
Just follow the instructions on the box of pastry shells. It says preheating the oven is a must…just be sure you preheat it to the right temperature. Learn from my mistakes…it’s much less painful.
Don’t get busy (or excited) and just forget to salt and pepper to taste at the end. You can probably live without the salt, but the flavor of the red pepper is really important. Details like that do make a difference…even if your polite friends insist it’s perfect just the way it is. They’re sweet…that’s why you invited them in the first place. Do them a favor and don’t forget the details.
If you’re going to give people the grand tour of your home, leave the prepared dish covered in the oven while you do. It’s much better hot. Trust me.
This pairs perfectly with a spinach salad, I think. I’ll share a great recipe for one soon!