Langoustine Étouffée

This luxurious Cajun inspired langoustine etouffee with tender langoustine simmered in a rich spicy sauce with onions, bell peppers, and celery – flavorful and good!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Cajun Langoustine Etouffee

When we were in our 20's and worked in the Senate, we had some friends move to Louisiana to work some local political races. We were thrilled- New Orleans had always been towards the top of our travel bucket list and a place we were dying to visit. We wasn't particularly drawn to Mardi Gras- but we definitely wanted to experience the French Quarter, Bourbon Street, drink hurricanes (which we found out we are unfortunately allergic to- which is a long story in and of itself)- and eat our weight in gumbo, boudin, po' boys, crawfish, beignets, and gallons of étouffée. There is no doubt that we love food in general- but we really, love creole food. It's spicy, bursting with flavor, full of peppers and onions- and often loaded with crawfish and other seafood. We were in heaven!

After finding an absolute steal on langoustine- a European crustacean kind of like a cross between a lobster and a crawfish- we wanted to come up with a good étouffée like the ones we sampled in New Orleans. This Langoustine Étouffée is an amazingly rich, complex, slightly sweet and spicy dish- and it is incredibly easy to make at home!

Langoustine are a easy ingredient to work with- but being in Northern Colorado, they aren't something we come across often. Since Trader Joe's opened in Fort Collins, however, we rediscovered our love for them! We usually shirk from buying pre-cooked seafood, but we've never had any fishy flavor with their langoustines, and at $7.99, it is a total steal and a relatively inexpensive addition to make this dish budget friendly for a dinner party (compared to other seafood options).

A big part of the flavor of this dish comes from layering lots of sautéed peppers and onions, as well as making a roux to thicken the tomato based sauce. This adds a little time to the cooking- but don't rush it. All you need to do is stir occasionally to be sure they don't burn- but give them time to brown and break down. This won't take more than 30 minutes- pour yourself a cold beer, and give it time!

You can also make the étouffée a little before serving- add a little more stock to make it a bit thinner so you can keep it heated on the stove until you're ready to go- and leave the langoustines off until the end. This will prevent the dish from drying out or the fish from getting too gummy.

Since we're using pre-cooked langoustine from Trader Joe's, you want them to heat up – you do NOT want to overcook them. If you're using fresh langoustine (lucky you!!) or crawfish, add them in with about 5-8 minutes on high to cook until they are opaque and pink- like shrimp.

Steamed White Rice – A simple bed of fluffy white rice makes the solid canvas for soaking up the étouffée's flavorful sauce.

Cornbread – A slice of moist cornbread can complement the spices and textures in the dish.

Coleslaw – A crisp, creamy coleslaw adds a refreshing contrast to the rich and spicy étouffée.

Grits – Creamy grits offer a comforting base that blends seamlessly with the étouffée.

Green Salad – A light, leafy green salad dressed with a simple vinaigrette can cut through the richness of the dish.

Garlic Bread – For sopping up the sauce, nothing beats warm, buttery garlic bread.

Cucumber Salad – A chilled cucumber salad with dill and yogurt can provide a cool, tangy relief from the dish's heat.

Stirring your mixture is a important part of this dish. It's not going to look all that good in the beginning- it will look a bit pale. But give it time to cook down, and rich good flavor will build on itself as your étouffée color begins to get deeper and darker.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 2 onions, diced
• 8 cloves of garlic, diced
• 2 tbsp flour
• ½ cup milk or cream
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup fish stock
• 2 tsp emeril's essence
• 12 oz. langoustine tails- cooked or uncooked, add 5 minutes for uncooked
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp tabasco sauce
• 1 cup rice
• 1 bunch cilantro, to garnish

Method

1. In a large, heavy pan, heat olive oil on medium until shimmery.
2. Add onions and peppers, stirring occasionally, until browned.
3. Add garlic.
4. In small pan, combine flour and milk and heat on medium, stirring constantly, until mixture browns slightly to create a roux.
5. Add roux to vegetables, let sauté and stir occasionally for two minutes.
6. Add stock, spices and tomatoes, cook on medium until sauce browns and reduces to a gravy consistency.
7. Cook rice in another pan- 1 cup of long grain white rice to two cups of water.
8. When rice is ready, scoop a rounded 1/2 cupful into a bowl, and top with étouffée.
9. Garnish with cilantro or parsley and enjoy!