Jeff T's Authentic New Orleans-style Crawfish Etouffee

We Southern folk come from all kinds of places . . . mountains, cities, the country, the coast . . . just to name a few possibilities. Author of this recipe, Jeff T., is from middle Georgia but had an extended stay in New Orleans. Being the fine cook he is naturally, he, of course, learned to make spicy Cajun favorites while he had the chance, including this fabulous etouffee. I'll admit I've never made this etouffee myself, but I ate a lot of it yesterday at brunch. Travis says I shouldn't post it since I personally haven't made it, but trust me, you have to know about this recipe! Jeff gave me the details for the specific purpose of sharing it with you. And I can personally guarantee that you can follow these simple directions and end up with a wonderfully warm, spicy, aromatic dish that will leave your guests begging you for the recipe. Serve it with rice (over dirty rice maybe) or, as Jeff did, as a topping for . . . an omelet! And if you can't find crawfish, try it with precooked frozen shrimp and add one or two cups of fish, vegetable, or chicken stock. Mmmmm.

Jeff T's Crawfish Etouffee
2 sticks butter, salted
2 tablespoons flour
1 medium red onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, chopped
red and yellow mild peppers (can use any bell peppers just caution that green bells may be too strong); use an amount approximately equal to the amount of diced celery you have
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
salt, to taste
a pinch of white pepper
cayenne pepper, to taste
frozen precooked craw fish in fish stock

Make a roux with butter and flour, cooking over low heat until butter / flour mixture is a dark brown but does not burn. Make sure to do this over low heat so that it doesn't scorch and stir constantly, 20 minutes or so. (If you're not familiar with a roux but know how to make gravy, then you pretty much know how to make a roux. Melt the butter and, while stirring steadily with a fork or whisk, add flour. Keep stirring to brown and thicken. This is your base for the etouffee).

Add onion, garlic, peppers, celery and saute until very soft. Add seasonings to taste. Traditionally, this is a spicy dish, but adjust to your taste. Turn heat to low and simmer, 15 -20 minutes. Place frozen crawfish (frozen in stock) on top of vegetables while still using low heat. Let the frozen crawfish and stock melt slowly, and heat crawfish through, stirring occasionally. Serve warm.