The best way to spend a Saturday afternoon is a crawfish boil
with family and friends. This is one of the many things I have missed
about moving from New Orleans. That is, until I was able to
find live crawfish available locally. Now I am able to share my love for
crawfish with friends and family here in Arkansas. There is no limit to
what you can include in a crawfish boil. Some of the non-traditional
items you can boil are turkey necks, cauliflower, mushrooms and
broccoli. I have even put some raw oysters in a small amount of the
boiling water. They were nice and spicy.
Sack of Crawfish (30 to 36 pounds), purged
2 boxes Salt
1 3oz box Zatarain’s Crab Boil in bag
1 pint Zatarain’s Liquid Crab Boil
1 cup Zatarain’s Dry Crab Boil
¾ cup Cayenne
6 Large Lemons cut in half
6 Yellow Onions peeled
6 heads Garlic, peeled of outer skin but enough left to keep
head in one piece
24 small New Red Potatoes
10 Corn Cobbettes
4 pounds Cooked Smoked Sausage, cut into bite size pieces
To Purge Crawfish
This is a very important step. This cleans the crawfish inside and
out. Do not skip this step. Pour live crawfish into an ice chest and sprinkle ½ box of salt on
crawfish. Fill the ice chest with water until the crawfi sh are covered.
Gently stir the crawfish to dilute the salt. Leave the crawfi sh in water
for 10 minutes or so. This will cause the crawfish to purge themselves
of mud and other things. Dump the water and purge one more time.
After the second purge, rinse the crawfish until the water around them
is clear.
To cook Crawfish
Fill large boiling pot* halfway with water (you can do two batches
if you have to). Begin heating water to a boil. When water begins to
boil, add seasonings. After the water has been boiling for 5 minutes,
add everything except crawfish. Boil for 10 minutes. Add crawfish
and boil them for 4 minutes. When done, turn off heat, cover the
pot and allow to soak for 10 to 15 minutes.The longer you allow the
crawfish to soak, the spicier they will become. Allow the crawfish to
drain before dumping them on a newspaper-covered table. Let the
feast begin.
* A Boiling pot is a large pot with a strainer inside. They range in
size from 22 quarts to 80 Quarts.
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