Tonight I had some cooked crawfish I bought at the supermarket and by that I mean I bought them already cooked.  I haven’t  had crawfish before, and as it very frequently happens, I ended up eating whatever new thing I try. They are quite addictive actually, they tasted nothing like shrimps, if anything, their taste is closer to that of lobster…. let’s say 10% lobster taste. These guys must have been boiled in some spicy liquid too, like I’m sure southern creole cuisine dictates!, very peppery. But anyways, I did end up with a pile of crawfish shells,  I enjoy making stocks, it was a no brainer, crawfish stock it is , I also had shrimps and rice and a few other things so decided to try a seafood-freshwater risotto:

Crawfish Shell Stock:

1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
20 crawfish heads
1 tbs herbs Provençal
3 cups of water (approximately)

Risotto:

3/4 cups of starchy rice
1 tbsp minced shallots
1 tbsp minced green onions
1 tomato, seeded and minced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbs chili powder
1 tbsp parsley finely chopped
1 cup of Pinot Grigio

Shrimp:

12 big prawns deveined, tails on
1 tbs butter

Method:

Crawfish stock:

Small saucepan, add enough water to cover the crawfish heads
Add garlic and onion powder
Boil for about half hour
Add herbs
Boil for 5 mins
Strain stock

Shrimp:

Sauté in butter until almost done and remove from heat.

Risotto:

Sweat green onions, tomatoes, shallot, in olive oil at medium heat
Add half a cup of wine and reduce.
Add garlic
Add rice and cook a bit before adding liquids, heat should be low.
Add chili powder right after the first cup of stock.
Add a cup of crawfish stock at a time, stirring until absorbed, repeat until all the stock has been incorporated, be careful not to overlook the rice. More wine/water might be needed if stock isn’t sufficient. If adding rest of the wine, taste and make sure acidity is good.
Salt to taste (tasting salt in starchy foods is tricky, starch is a flavor inhibitor, also starchy food tends to retain heat really well, tasting becomes difficult at high temperatures) so don’t over salt.
Add parsley
Let cool down a bit but not too much.
Add lemon juice
Mix in shrimp and let shrimp finish cooking.

Some of the photos:

done.

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