Bringing Mardi Gras into Your Home | Family Economics

By Lori

You may not have big colorful parades or a street full of crazy happy people trying to get beads, but you can still have a whole lot of fun, even being hundreds of miles away.

What is Mardi Gras without food?!

You must have delicious Louisiana food to serve to your guests and I’ve got a few recipes to share with you to help make your in-home Mardi Gras party tasty! Enjoy and let me know how your party turns out.

CRAWFISH ETOUFFEE
Ingredients
- 1 heaping teaspoon all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 very thin slices lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon green onion
- 1 lb. cleaned crawfish tails, commercial crawfish fat and water to make 3/4 cup
- 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 stick margarine or butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine

Directions
Use a saucepan with a tight fitting lid to etouffee (French for smother). Season crawfish tails with salt and pepper, set aside. Melt butter, add onion, and cook over medium heat until tender. Stir in the flour and blend well. Add water, crawfish fat, lemon, tomato and garlic.

Cook slowly for about 20 minutes, and add a little more water occasionally. When sauce is done, add crawfish tails, cover with lid. Cook 8 minutes. Season again to taste. Add green onion and parsley, cook 2 minutes longer. Serve on steamed rice. Garlic bread and green salad are good companions to crawfish.

SHRIMP CREOLE
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined and washed
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 small piece of bell pepper, cut fine
- 1/4 lemon
- 1/8 teaspoon sweet basil
- 1-1/2 cups water pinch nutmeg
- 1-1/2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 small piece of bay leaf
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper
- 1 clove garlic, mashed
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 cup whole tomatoes, fresh or canned
- A small amount of green onion
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce liquid from boiled shrimp

Directions
In a stew pan, add water, salt, bay leaf, lemon and shrimp. Cook over medium heat. When water comes to a boil, cover and cook 5 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid. Sauté onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add tomatoes, shrimp broth, sugar, and bell pepper.

Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add sweet basil, nutmeg, red pepper and salt to taste. Cook a few minutes more. Make a paste with cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water. Stir it into the sauce; stir and cook until it thickens. When ready to serve, add the boiled shrimp, parsley and green onion.