200th Post!! Gerry’s Boiled Crawfish

Well this is my 200th blog post, a great milestone for the old bloggity blog. I really wanted to do this post on boiled crawfish, since that’s my absolute favorite food but man, crawfish prices have just been too high this year! I decided until we can afford to buy a sack, I’d just post a picture from the previous boil (same picture my header came from) and post the recipe. If anyone out there feels the urge to just donate a sack for my blog, please feel free to do so 🙂 (Edited to note the pictures have been changed to recent pictures from our Mother’s Day crawfish boil).

This recipe is from my dad, Gerry. His crawfish are just amazing, everyone always wants him to boil some for them! Of course, like all Cajuns we have to add in some “extras” such as potatoes, corn, sausage and mushrooms. The mushrooms are always my favorite! Next time you’re gonna boil, try out his recipe!

Gerry’s Crawfish Boil Recipe
(per sack)

Ingredients:
1 sack crawfish (approx. 40- 45 lbs.)
1 jar Zatarain’s Seafood Boil (powder)
½ large bottle Zatarain’s liquid crab boil (or to taste)
8-10 lemons – halved
6-8 onions – halved
4-6 whole garlics – halved
1 sack new (small) potatoes
1 pkg. Smoky Hollow sausage (mild or hot)-cut in 2” pcs.
2 small pkgs. small fresh mushrooms
12-16 corn-on-the-cobs (or number of guests you have)
1-2 “swirls” of salt around the pot (optional)

Fill pot with 6 inches water. Start heating, adding the jar of seasoning to the water, the liquid boil, and the lemons (squeeze the lemon juice in, then throw the lemons in). Stir with a paddle to make sure nothing sits on the bottom. Put the lid on as you heat the water. If you have a basket that you will put crawfish in, dump the potatoes in the bottom, then add the crawfish.

Note: If you couldn’t find new potatoes, you can use regular Irish (red) potatoes. Just cut them in half if they are too big.

On top of the crawfish in the basket, add the cut up onions and garlic. When the steam starts coming out from under the lid, take the lid off, let the water come to a rolling boil, then put the basket into the water. Stir the crawfish around with the paddle to get all of them into the water. Put the lid back on and crank up the fire. When you see the steam starting to come out from under the lid again, remove the lid and set aside. Start timing 4 minutes from the time the water came back to a boil. At the 2 minute mark, throw in the cut-up sausage and the corn. When the timer reaches 4 minutes, shut the fire off, throw in the mushrooms, and stir with the paddle (you want to try to get the sausage, corn, and mushrooms under the water level). Keep the lid off to help cool the water down, and time it for 20 minutes from the time you turned the fire off. During that 20 minutes, you can stir with a paddle, being careful not to mash the crawfish. Try to turn the crawfish on the bottom to get them to the top, but make sure the corn, sausage, and mushrooms stay down. After 20 minutes, pick the basket up, let drain, and serve.

If you boil any more sacks, leave the water in the pot. To this, add the following: ½ jar Zatarain’s Seafood Boil, about 1/3 large bottle Zatarain’s Liquid Crab Boil, then follow the recipe as you did with the first sack. You can do this with each additional sack.

Here are some pictures of how to boil crawfish! Enjoy!