Easter in Louisiana is something special. Picture this. Church pews full of pastel colored suits, frilly dresses, and big hats. Kids with blank stares holding a microphone in front of the congregation, because they’ve forgotten the Easter poem their parents made them recite 100 times during the week. Ushers outside during the sermon hiding dyed eggs for the hunt after church. However, all that’s on your mind is the huge pot of Crawfish Bisque with stuffed heads that’s waiting for you in the kitchen back at home. Thank God for Jesus!
The hardest part of the recipe isn’t the roux. It’s following my Louisiana Crawfish Boil recipe: https://coopcancook.com/louisiana-crawfish-boil-recipe/ the day before and reserving some of the crawfish for this Bisque. Then, you have to peel said crawfish without eating them. Pure torture, I tell ya! Try your best to reserve 4-5 pounds of crawfish from the boil. The flavor of them in this Bisque is unmatched!
What’s that Yellow Stuff??
If you’ve never peeled a crawfish, just watch my tutorial. It’s somewhere on this page. Just keep scrolling. Anyway, you want to have 3 bowls setup. One for the crawfish tail meat. Another for the claws, cartilage from the heads, and other peelings. And lastly, one for the empty crawfish heads. And the yellowish, orange stuff on the crawfish tails? Yeah, it’s kinda like Manna from Heaven. It’s where a lot of flavor resides. Don’t trash it or wipe it off! Blasphemy!
To “gut” the crawfish heads, I just use my finger to lift it out. If you’re afraid to break or crack the heads by doing so, just use a butter knife. Scrape it out and rinse the heads well. Pat them dry, and set aside.
No Waste Gang
What I love most about this dish, aside from the taste, is that nothing goes to waste. We use every part of the crawfish for something! This is my favorite way to make crawfish stock. And it’s incredibly easy! Just dump all of the crawfish peelings into a large stock pot. Then, fill it with water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and forget it for an hour or so. You don’t need to add anything else if you boiled the crawfish right. All of the flavor from the boil with transfer beautifully into your stock!
Peel all of the crawfish; reserve the heads, peelings, and tail meat in separate bowlsRemove all of the cartilage and claws from the heads and add it to the rest of the peelingsReserve the empty heads and the tail meat. Add the peelings and claws into a large stock pot. Pour in 10-12 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 1 hour. Skim off the foam from the top of the stock then drain the stock into a bowl. Discharge the peelings and claws. Reserve the stock.
Stuffed Up
Now, let’s discuss this divine stuffing! Grind up some of those crawfish tails for this. Traditionally, you just add the tails, breadcrumbs, some veggies, and seasoning. I did all of that AND I folded in in some lump crabmeat! Seafood overload! This is completely optional. But, I highly recommend that you try it! I use a piping bag to stuff the heads. Easy, breezy.
Preheat the oven to 350°FRinse the empty crawfish heads well; pat dry and set aside. In a food processor, finely chop the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and green onions. Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the veggie mix for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool at room temp. Add the 2 lbs of crawfish tails into the food processor and pulse until the tails are finely chopped. In a mixing bowl, combine the veggie/butter mix, finely chopped crawfish tails, and breadcrumbs. Mix well. Taste and add Cajun or Creole seasoning as needed. Stir in the beaten egg. Then, gently fold in the crabmeat. Add the stuffing into a piping bag and fill each empty crawfish heads with the stuffing. Place the stuffed heads on a parchment paper or aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.
The Roux
Don’t burn it. That’s all I’ve got to say. If you use a metal whisk to whisk that flour in, you better switch it out for a wooden spoon immediately. That metal will heat up and burn the roux. Wooden utensils are safer for rouxs. The good part is that we don’t need a dark, gumbo roux. So, we won’t be stirring for too long. Just until the roux is a nice, peanut butter color. Speaking of color, some prefer a red bisque. I like mine brown. The color of a good étouffée. But, if redder is what you’re used to, just add more tomato paste than I did. You can also add tomato sauce. Just don’t tell anyone it’s my recipe if you do.
Will the Stuffing Fall Out of the Heads?
Not if you don’t stir it like a bat out of hell! Just pack it in well, bake it, and all will be well. You’ll have to take it out of the heads to eat it anyway!
Time to heat of the rice!
Happy Easter,
B. Coop
Crawfish Bisque Recipe
Ingredients
Stock:
- 4-5 lbs boiled crawfish
- 10 cups water
Stuffed Crawfish Heads:
- 50-60 crawfish heads
- 1 stick salted butter
- 1 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 lb peeled crawfish tails
- 1 onion
- 1 bell pepper
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 TBS minced garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- Cajun or Creole seasoning to taste
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 lb lump crabmeat optional
Bisque:
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 onion
- 1 bell pepper
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 TBS minced garlic
- 1/3 cup chopped green onions
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 8 cups crawfish stock*
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Cajun or Creole seasoning to taste
- 1 TBS liquid crab and shrimp boil concentrate
- Remaining crawfish tails
- Fresh parsley to garnish
- Warm white rice for serving
Instructions
Stock:
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Peel all of the crawfish; reserve the heads, peelings, and tail meat in separate bowls
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Remove all of the cartilage and claws from the heads and add it to the rest of the peelings
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Reserve the empty heads and the tail meat.
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Add the peelings and claws into a large stock pot.
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Pour in 10-12 cups of water.
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Bring to a boil.
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Lower the heat to a simmer.
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Simmer for about 1 hour.
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Skim off the foam from the top of the stock then drain the stock into a bowl.
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Discharge the peelings and claws.
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Reserve the stock.
Stuffed Crawfish Heads:
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Preheat the oven to 350°F
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Rinse the empty crawfish heads well; pat dry and set aside.
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In a food processor, finely chop the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and green onions.
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Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the veggie mix for 5 minutes.
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Remove from the heat and allow to cool at room temp.
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Add the 2 lbs of crawfish tails into the food processor and pulse until the tails are finely chopped.
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In a mixing bowl, combine the veggie/butter mix, finely chopped crawfish tails, and breadcrumbs.
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Mix well.
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Taste and add Cajun or Creole seasoning as needed.
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Stir in the beaten egg.
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Then, gently fold in the crabmeat.
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Add the stuffing into a piping bag and fill each empty crawfish heads with the stuffing.
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Place the stuffed heads on a parchment paper or aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
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Bake for 30 minutes.
Bisque:
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Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and green onions into a food processor and blend until finely chopped
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Heat the oil in a dutch oven or heavy bottom stock pot.
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When the oil is hot, whisk in the flour to make the roux. (Do NOT walk away! The roux will burn if the heat is too hot and you do not stir constantly.)
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Continue stirring until the roux is the color of peanut butter.
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Add in the finely chopped veggies.
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Sauté for 5 minutes.
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Stir in the tomato paste until well combined.
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Pour in the reserved crawfish stock, stir, and bring to a simmer
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Toss the remaining crawfish tails in the liquid crab boil
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Then, add the crawfish tails into the pot.
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Stir in the onion and garlic powders
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Reduce the heat to LOW and simmer, uncovered for 20 mins.
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Add in the baked, stuffed crawfish heads.
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Continue to simmer for 10-20 more minutes.
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Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
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Serve over warm white rice and garnish with fresh, chopped green onions.
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Enjoy!
