Steve has introduced a lot of new things into my life; hunting in Africa, eating Mexican at every meal, bulldozers, exotic animal auctions, mushy stuff I won't get into, the list goes on and on. However, one of the most delicious things he has introduced me to, is crawfish. Red, spicy, hot, succulent crawfish.
If you aren't familiar with this delicious crustacean, also known as the 'mud bug', here's a very brief tutorial. They live in fresh water in the south. The most delicious ones I have had are from Louisiana (and boy do they know how to prepare them). Throughout the south in the Spring, you can find a crawfish boil happening just about every weekend...or you can just get them at a restaurant. They are boiled in with spicy, Cajun seasonings with vegetables. My favorites are corn, mushrooms, garlic, potatoes, okra, celery, and green beans. You will also commonly find some Andouille Sausage in there. You eat it by breaking off the tail, peeling off one layer of the shell, and then pulling the meat out of the tail. If you are hardcore like myself, you will take the head, hold it up to your mouth, squeeze slightly and suck all of the delicious goodness that is inside. I was HIGHLY skeptical of this last step until I decided to just try it one day. My life has been changed forever. Caution: They are messy, so have many rolls of papertowels on hand when consuming.
Steve and I are coming dangerously close to actually becoming crawfish this year. We have boiled them at the house 3 times, eaten them at restaurants numerous times (my favorite place being The Porch Swing on Washington and Heights in Houston), and attended 2.5 crawfish in the last 2 weeks. I say 2.5 because after one of the boils, the next day, their neighbor had a boil and we got some from them and had another feast.
2 weeks ago, one of Steve's clients threw a crawfish boil for his office staff and customers. He boiled 800 lbs of selects (the biggest crawfish). They served piles of them on the cardboard trays you would get in elementary school when you got to eat lunch in the classroom or outside, and Steve and I made ourselves stop after 3 trays because I didn't want to be rude. We definitely could have kept going.
Last weekend, we went to New Orleans for our friends Jacques and Barb's annual crawfish boil. This is the 3rd year I have attended and I am already salivating for next year. They boiled about 300 lbs and they were so spicy and juicy....couldn't get enough. Barb is a wonderful cook and so the crawfish were just part of the feast, but I simply found myself a seat at one of the mud bug covered tables, and went-to-town.
The next day, I looked out their back window and noticed that the neighbor, who had boiled our crawfish for us the day before, was having a boil of his own. I began strategically sending people out back to "get something" in hopes that he would invite us over. The boys and I went to play a little golf (OK, so I only drove the cart and had a few beers) and when we got back, Jacques' brother was walking back from the neighbor's with a bag of crawfish. My dreams had come true! We dumped them out on the table and ascended on them like vultures. There was no speaking at the table, just eating and slurping. Then, after about 15 minutes, there were 5 sad faces standing over the table as we realized they were gone.
If you take nothing else from this posting, I want you to take this: I love crawfish. I love them at home. I love them at a restaurant. I love them at a friend's house. I love them big. I love them small. You need to eat some.
If you aren't familiar with this delicious crustacean, also known as the 'mud bug', here's a very brief tutorial. They live in fresh water in the south. The most delicious ones I have had are from Louisiana (and boy do they know how to prepare them). Throughout the south in the Spring, you can find a crawfish boil happening just about every weekend...or you can just get them at a restaurant. They are boiled in with spicy, Cajun seasonings with vegetables. My favorites are corn, mushrooms, garlic, potatoes, okra, celery, and green beans. You will also commonly find some Andouille Sausage in there. You eat it by breaking off the tail, peeling off one layer of the shell, and then pulling the meat out of the tail. If you are hardcore like myself, you will take the head, hold it up to your mouth, squeeze slightly and suck all of the delicious goodness that is inside. I was HIGHLY skeptical of this last step until I decided to just try it one day. My life has been changed forever. Caution: They are messy, so have many rolls of papertowels on hand when consuming.
Steve and I are coming dangerously close to actually becoming crawfish this year. We have boiled them at the house 3 times, eaten them at restaurants numerous times (my favorite place being The Porch Swing on Washington and Heights in Houston), and attended 2.5 crawfish in the last 2 weeks. I say 2.5 because after one of the boils, the next day, their neighbor had a boil and we got some from them and had another feast.
2 weeks ago, one of Steve's clients threw a crawfish boil for his office staff and customers. He boiled 800 lbs of selects (the biggest crawfish). They served piles of them on the cardboard trays you would get in elementary school when you got to eat lunch in the classroom or outside, and Steve and I made ourselves stop after 3 trays because I didn't want to be rude. We definitely could have kept going.
Last weekend, we went to New Orleans for our friends Jacques and Barb's annual crawfish boil. This is the 3rd year I have attended and I am already salivating for next year. They boiled about 300 lbs and they were so spicy and juicy....couldn't get enough. Barb is a wonderful cook and so the crawfish were just part of the feast, but I simply found myself a seat at one of the mud bug covered tables, and went-to-town.
The next day, I looked out their back window and noticed that the neighbor, who had boiled our crawfish for us the day before, was having a boil of his own. I began strategically sending people out back to "get something" in hopes that he would invite us over. The boys and I went to play a little golf (OK, so I only drove the cart and had a few beers) and when we got back, Jacques' brother was walking back from the neighbor's with a bag of crawfish. My dreams had come true! We dumped them out on the table and ascended on them like vultures. There was no speaking at the table, just eating and slurping. Then, after about 15 minutes, there were 5 sad faces standing over the table as we realized they were gone.
If you take nothing else from this posting, I want you to take this: I love crawfish. I love them at home. I love them at a restaurant. I love them at a friend's house. I love them big. I love them small. You need to eat some.
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