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ON CRAWFISH
Mudbugs, crawdads, crayfish: A crustacean of many names, the crawfish delivers big, briny flavor in a small package. Dubbed the Louisiana state crustacean in 1983, it is a complementary “crop,” often farmed alongside rice in muddy ponds of the deep South.
CRAWFISH BASICS
Buying: Fresh crawfish are primarily in season in the spring. Look for live, clean, similarly sized crawfish. Store them over ice but never submerge them in water. (They can be found farmed and frozen year-round.)
Cooking: The crawfish boil — a big kettle of bubbling water loaded with corn on the cob, potatoes and crawfish seasoned with hefty handfuls of Old Bay or a Cajun spice blend — is a classic.
AROUND RVA
Millie’s: Get your crawdads for brunch served with scrambled eggs, andouille sausage, cheese and peppers in the Cajun Mess.
Live Crawfish & Seafood: A boil bucket delivers the thrill without the fuss — your choice of shellfish, spiced to order and served dripping with butter.
Lady N'awlins: Try the Crawfish Monica, which is full of plump crawfish and scallions in a white-wine cream sauce with rotini pasta.
“They were super fast, so it was not that easy.” —Scott Lewis, chef at Laura Lee’s, on catching crawfish as a child
COOK LIKE A LOCAL
Scott Lewis (Photo by John Murden Jr. courtesy Laura Lee's)
As a child growing up in Danville, Chef Scott Lewis would catch “crawdaddies” in Pumpkin Creek. “You learn where they like to hang out [by] lifting rocks or digging in the mud,” he says. The Laura Lee’s chef shares his crawfish-centered riff on sausage biscuits and gravy, featuring drop biscuits made using a mix of spices that mimics the flavors of Old Bay.
Crawdaddy Sausage With Cheddar Bay Biscuits and Crawfish Gravy
By Scott Lewis, chef at Laura Lee’s
For the Sausage
(Makes about 12 to 15 patties)
2 pounds shelled crawfish meat
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
Half a green pepper, diced
Half a red pepper, diced very small
3 celery stalks, diced
1 1⁄2 tablespoons chopped garlic
3 cups long-grain rice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Sausage casing (if you decide to case the sausage)
Cook rice according to package directions until it is overdone — its stickiness will be the binder in the sausage, so it’s OK to get it pretty mushy — and set aside. In a large pot over medium heat, cook onions, peppers, celery and garlic until soft. Add crawfish, salt, cayenne, white pepper and cook approximately 15 minutes to incorporate the flavors. Add your cooked rice and stir until everything is mixed together thoroughly.
Form the mixture into patties. Then heat a saute pan over medium to medium-high heat with vegetable oil. Cook sausages for approximately five to 10 minutes on each side, until they're crispy, brown and cooked through. Depending on the size of the sausage, you may want to finish them off in an oven preheated to 350 to ensure that they're cooked through.
For the Cheddar Bay Drop Biscuits
6 cups flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
3 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups melted butter
4 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
Preheat the oven to 375. Sift together all dry ingredients. Make a well, pour in the buttermilk, and mix it with your hands. Next, pour in the butter, mix it in with your hands, and finally add the cheddar and mix until everything is incorporated. This is a drop biscuit recipe, so there's no need to fold and roll your dough. Just drop little handfuls on a greased sheet pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the tops and edges are golden brown.
For the Crawfish Gravy
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1⁄2 cup cooked crawfish tails, chopped
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon cayenne or Cajun seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk to combine. Heat until light brown and bubbly while whisking. Add crawfish and cream, then your cayenne or Cajun seasoning. Bring to a simmer while whisking and adjust the consistency by adding more liquid if desired. Taste and season with salt and pepper as necessary.
To assemble, place two drop biscuits on a plate with a sausage patty, and top with gravy. Garnish with chopped chives if desired.
