Killer Cajun Shrimp or Crawfish

"Beware: its highly addictive and this will probably affect you for the rest of your life. Be prepared to acknowledge and satisfy your cravings for the next 15 years. Keep lots of napkins nearby and don’t expect to have table conversation. Have a few beers handy.  Don’t be scared off by the bright red broth – the color doesn’t come from the hot peppers, it comes from tomato paste. You can adjust the heat factor based on your taste by using less pepper (but why would you do that?!)"

Ingredients

Method

The Aromatics:
Fry onion, celery, garlic in the butter until fragrant and soft

The Spices:

Place all in a mortar and smash (or just quickly run knife through the herbs on cutting board) You want the herbs to still stay whole, but you need to smash them to release its flavours. Add spices to the pot.

The Broth:
Add the broth ingredients, simmer on low for at least 1 hour. Taste, add more salt if needed. Mix 1.5 quarts Chicken broth and 16 oz Bottled Clam juice.

The Shrimp or Crawfish: 

Just before serving, add and simmer until done (how long depends on how big your shrimp or Crawfish are. start with 3 minutes for Shrimp and 7 minutes for Crawfish. Check and adjust with more time if needed).

The Bread:
1-2 loaves French bread, sliced – you can make your own loaves very easily! I always have 2 loaves on hand, 9 times out of 10 we grab the pot with leftover broth and dig in with the second loaf.

Prep 15m | Cook 1h | Ready 1h20m

Return to Shrimp Recipe

The Aromatics

• ½ small onion, diced
• 1 celery rib, diced
• 5 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 stick of butter

The Spices

• 2 T Dried or fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp Dried thyme
• ]1 T Dried fennel
• 2 tsp Celery seed
• 1 T Crushed red pepper flakes 
• 2 tsp Black Pepper
• 2 tsp kosher or sea salt

The Broth

• 1.5 quarts Chicken broth
• 16 oz Bottled Clam juice
• 1/2 lemon (cut in half just throw both pieces in the broth)
• 3 oz. Tomato paste
• 1 cup White wine

The Shrimp or Crawfish

• 2 lbs Shrimp or 4 lbs Crawfish