Springtime in Louisiana means more than just beautiful flora all over the place. It also means great food traditions. Most people in southern Louisiana have a crawfish boil on Easter Sunday. Crawfish season lasts from Thanksgiving to July 4, but I think they are best in spring – just the right size: big, but not tough.

This is my mom’s recipe for crawfish etouffée. Most of the time, Mama made etouffée if we had any left over crawfish after a boil.

Ingredients: 1 lb. cooked crawfish tails, 2 T butter, 2 T flour, 1 chopped onion, 2 chopped stalks celery, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1/2 chopped bell pepper, 1 chopped green onion, 2 c chicken or vegetable broth

In a large skillet, melt the butter over a medium heat.  Add the flour and make a light brown roux.

Add: onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic. Sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the crawfish and sauté with the vegetables for 5 minutes.

Add the seasonings: salt, pepper, cayenne. I add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of each pepper, but that will make it very spicy, so adjust it to your own preference. Sauté another 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the broth.

Add the green onion. Simmer on low for 15 minutes.

Mama would say, let the flavors blend by leaving the etouffée sit for an hour or two in the fridge. If you don’t have time to wait, just serve over rice. Either way – C’est si bon!