Etouffee: to roux or not to roux?

Mitch Cumsteen

Mitch Cumsteen

250+ Posts
I've been screwing around with some different etouffee recipes trying to get it right, and wanted to get some opinions on whether or not you should start with a roux. I've been sauteing the trinity in butter and then adding flour once it softens up and going from there, but I'm not completely satisfied with the results. I'm thinking about starting with a roux for the next batch to give it more flavor. Any suggestions?
 
Yeah, make your roux about the color of caramel. If you want to cheat, and this is gonna sound blasphemous, but it's easy and surprisingly tasty, throw in a can of Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup.
 
What Myke said.

But in a man's voice.

Seriously, our family etouffee roux is a lighter butter or margarine roux. Get it to a good golden color (we don't even go to as dark as a caramel color), add trinity, and then go from there.
 
Etouffee typically has a "red" or lighter colored roux, but I developed the recipe below a few years ago for some clients who wanted a version w/ a few less calories.
This one's not as thick as some, but still mighty tasty!
=========


* 2 pounds crawfish tails. You can easily sub shrimp
* 1/4 pound butter
* 1 cup minced onion
* 1/2 cup minced bell pepper
* 1/2 cup minced celery
* 2 tablespoons crawfish fat
* 2 cups cold water
* 1 tablespoon corn starch
* 1/4 cup chopped green onion
* 1/4 cup chopped parsley
* Creole seasoning blend, to taste
* Salt, to taste
* Pinch dried thyme
* Pinch dried oregano
* 1 bay leaf

Season the crawfish tails with salt, plus a little black and cayenne pepper. Heat the butter in a saute pan and saute the onion, bell pepper and celery until the translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the crawfish fat (or extra butter if you don't have any), plus 1-1/2 cups water. Add the Creole seasoning, thyme, oregano, bay leaf and crawfish tails. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Dissolve the corn starch in the remaining 1/2 cup water and add to the mixture. Add the green onions and parsley, and cook an additional 5 minutes. Serve over hot long grain rice.

YIELD: Dinner for 8, with leftovers.

Chef Paul U. CEC CCE ACF
 
Many kitchens brown the flour on a sheet in an oven as a shortcut, but it's not that hard or time consuming to do it the traditional way once you have done it enough times to become good at it. With practice you can even go with a little higher heat and cut down on the time to completion. I recommend using a little more oil in the beginning because it will help keep you from destroying the batch and maybe the next time cut down on the oil. I also recommend using cast iron or steel skillet (no coatings) with peanut oil (relatively high smoke point & good flavor) for best results. Eliminate possible distractions before you start, because this isn't really something that you can take a break from while in progress.

Most shoot for a peanut butter color, but I prefer a darker roux that has a stronger flavor. Others prefer an even lighter roux. As with most cooking there is no wrong or right, just personal preferences.
 
Summer, butter, margarine, no big whoop. I personally prefer butter as my etouffee roux base, but as a kid, there were times when we had etouffee fixins, but only margarine on hand. It turned out just fine.

I truly believe that cajun cooking, more than many other styles, is a "whatever you have on hand" kind of deal, particularly when it comes to "one pot meals" like gumbos, etouffees, and creoles. There are few hard and fast specifics, other than fundamental things like "first you make a roux" and "add trinity" (and even then, you can fudge if short one of the ingredients).

Hell, I remember a semester in college where one of my regular dishes was elk creole, because an attorney I worked for gave me 50 lbs of elk stew meat. Being a good coonass, I worked with what I had. And my take on it turned out to be pretty good, so I repeated it a few times.

Also being a good mexican, I made some elk carne guisada, too.

Earthy cuisines like cajun and mexican are "make do with watcha got" kinda things.
 
I have used butter many times for etouffee and like the results. If i'm going to make a batch of roux that will be used also for gumbo, then I prefer using peanut oil. Better to try them all then make your own rules.
 
Some things just shouldn't be messed with. Take it from this ExPat from LousyAnna (me):
No roux in etouffee = beans in chili = mayo in guac = jorts & flaming couches in DKR = Switzer coaching the Cowboys = the sun burning out.

That is NOT allsome.
 
Thanks for the responses.

Cowpoke,
I'm no expert, but it doesn't look like your recipe has a roux in it.

NCAA,
I hadn't really heard that, but I'm glad you brought it up. I don't want to piss off the cooking gods or offend any coonasses.

Is it going to make a big difference if I make the roux first and then add the trinity vs. cooking the trinity in butter and then adding flour?
 
I recommend: Paul Prudhomm's Louisiana Kitchen.

I have learned more about cooking from this book than any I have ever purchased. There are some AMAZING recipes in there. I've had that book for almost 20 years and will still be cooking out of it when I'm 80. The shrimp etouffee recipe in there is outstanding. I can't eat etouffee in restaurants any more because this book has spoiled me.
 
the original question reminds me of the one on 3:16, about whgether guys prefer to get blown or go down on chix.

IOW, it has an obvious answer to me. I've actually triend sauteeing the veggies first, adding flour later.

I would look for the alton brown discussion on roux. he explains why they are needed and why there's only one way to get that done.
 
Absolutely second Lazy Engineer on Prudhomme. The fat guy recommends a dark red roux for etouffe and it is unholy good. The book LE links to is one of our three most favorite. We may have to get another cause some of the pages are falling out.
 
I would pay twice the asking price for that book JUST for the Blackened Redfish recipe. And it isn't even one of the top-10 recipes in the book.
eek.gif
 
You guys win. I'm going to pick up a copy this weekend.

Although, I did make another batch of etouffee this past weekend that was outstanding.
 
I think I actually got this technique from someone here on HF, but, since I don't see it, I'll post it...

To make a DARK roux without spending hours standing over the sauce, start it in a cast iron dutch oven on the stove. Once it's a light caramel, put it in a preheated oven (I think I had mine at 300 deg).

Then, just check on it periodically, stirring gently. But - AND THIS IS A BIG BUT - don't scrape the sides at all...

After some time, it will darken A LOT...When it's the color you want, add as needed to your etouffee...
 
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