Nothing says summer like a good 'ol down south Crawdad Boil. Some folks cringe at the thought of putting a crawdad (or crawfish, crayfish, river lobster, mudbug) into their mouth, myself included. But if you haven't at least tried a crawdad boil yet perhaps I can entice you. You never know, try this secret recipe and it just might become a favorite summertime tradition!
One thing that seems to stop people from eating crawdads, besides their sweet faces, is not knowing how to exactly to eat them. The process is sort of a cross between eating a lobster and a shrimp.
Simple enough. So now that we all now how to eat a crawdad, how do you cook them? I got my hands on the famous Crawdad Boil recipe that The Wolf Creek Inn serves during their Crawdad Festival. I am fortunate enough to live just 4 miles from the longest consecutively-run Inn throughout the entire Pacific Northwest. It's been open and running since 1884 housing and feeding everyone from stagecoach drivers, miners and celebrities such as Clark Gable and Robert Redford. It's even known to shelter a few ghosts but that's another story.
First thing to know is to rinse your crawdad's really well in water, throw out any dead ones, and then rinse again. Then fill your pot, or ice chest (depending how many crawdad's you have) with clean water and LOTS of salt. This is what is called purging. That way your little crawdad's are nice and clean and there is no need to de-vein them. Bonus if you ask me! Now on to the fun part.
The Wolf Creek Inn swears by Louisiana Crawfish Co Seafood Boil
. Their secret ingredient if you will. To find a source for live crawdad's to cook I suggest Google. I used to scuba dive the Sacramento River to get mine! The Wolf Creek Inn orders from a company who harvests them locally from the Columbia River.
. Their secret ingredient if you will. To find a source for live crawdad's to cook I suggest Google. I used to scuba dive the Sacramento River to get mine! The Wolf Creek Inn orders from a company who harvests them locally from the Columbia River. 
Wolf Creek Inn's Crawdad Boil
Prep Time: 20 min (includes crawdad rinse & sort)
Cooking Time: 30 min
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
2 1/2 - 3 lbs. live crawdads
1 lb. Louisiana Crawfish Co. Seafood Boil Seasoning
3 lemons, halved
1lb. red potatoes, halved
2 onions, quartered
6 celery stalks, cut into chunks
12 ounces spicy sausage, cut into chunks
3 ears of corn, cut into 3 inch pieces
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Directions:
In a large pot add approximately 3 gallons of water and seafood seasoning. Bring to a rolling boil.
Squeeze in the lemons and drop into the pot.
Add potatoes and onions. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add celery, sausage and corn. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add crawdads and cook for 3 minutes.
Turn off heat and cover for 10-15 minutes.
Strain the contents and pour into a serving bucket or directly onto a newspaper lined table.
Sprinkle salt and cayenne pepper all over.
.jpg "Crawdad Boil Recipe Reveled from The Historic Wolf Creek Inn ~ Taco Tuesday") |
| The Wolf Creek Inn during the Annual Quilt Show |
There you have it! Dig in and don't be afraid to use your hands and get your face dirty. Utensils are an option =)
I had them at my cousins in Texas years ago & not since. Thanks for sharing @DearCreatives party! Hope your having a great week. Theresa
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Theresa =)
ReplyDeleteYUM! Though as a Louisiana girl, I cringe every time I see the word crawdad. :( But I get it--you're not in my neighborhood, so you say crawdad. Looks like you did most of it just about right! We don't typically throw sausage into ours, but hey, I'm sure it's pretty good! We also cook ours in huge outdoor pots outside. It's an all day affair and each batch is spicier than the last.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA! I know Gabby, but as a west-coast girl I have to keep it real with the 'Crawdad' lingo =) And I do bow down to the spicy-ness ya'll can handle down there! Thanks so much for stopping by
ReplyDelete