Boulettes Fried Crawfish Balls Fried Shrimp Balls Fried Crab Balls Recipes

CRAWFISH BALLS

Steps:

• In a medium pot warm crawfish thoroughly on low heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon of Louisiana crawfish boil mix (I used 1 tablespoon because I like it spicy) use up to 1 tablespoon if you want it spicy. Remove crawfish from heat once warmed. Stir in lemon juice, mix well and set aside.
• Chop onion, garlic, and green onion in food processoror chopper
• Using a strainer to drain all the liquid from the crawfish, once drained then place crawfish in the food processor on top of the chopped vegetable
• Chop the crawfish up into pieces be careful not to make the crawfish mushy; they should be chunky.
• Pour the crawfish mixture into a large mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients. Chop the parsley with a knife.
• Mix ingredients well with clean hands or use gloves.
• Shape crawfish mixture into golf size balls. Place on a cookie sheet. Should make 20 balls.
• Roll balls in flour. I stirred in 1 teaspoon of garlic powder into the flour. Heat cooking oil in deep fryer to 350 degrees. Fry 3-4 balls at a time in deep fryer until brown. Please be careful when cooking with hot oil.
• Once crawfish balls are brown, carefully remove them with a slotted spoon and place onto a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Serve warm and enjoy!

CRAWFISH BISQUE WITH CRAWFISH BOULETTES

Steps:

• For the crawfish stock: Remove the tails from the 5 pounds of boiled crawfish and peel, reserving the tail meat for the bisque and the peelings for the stock. Pinch off the claws and reserve. Put the tail peelings and claws in a stockpot and cover with the water. Bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered for 45 minutes. Drain. You should have about 3 quarts of stock. Let the stock cool.
• For the bisque: Combine the oil and flour in a large cast iron or enameled cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat. Stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, make a medium brown roux, the color of peanut butter. Add 3 cups of the onions, 1 1/2 cups bell peppers, and 1 1/2 cups celery. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and bay leaf. Cook, stirring often, for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Add the reserved crawfish tails. Stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the crawfish stock and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat, uncovered, for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the green onions and the parsley.
• For the boulettes: In a food processor with a metal blade, combine the remaining onions, peppers, celery, garlic, 1 pound peeled crawfish tails, bread pieces and egg together. Pulse the mixture a few times to finely chop the mixture. *Do not puree. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the remaining green onions and parsley. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Shape the mixture into small balls, about 1 tablespoon each. Season the bread crumbs with the Rustic Rub. Roll the balls in the seasoned bread crumbs. When the oil has reached 360 degrees F, deep-fry the boulettes until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove the boulettes from the oil and drain on a paper-lined plate. Season with Rustic Rub. Garnish each soup with a couple of the boulettes.
• Combine all ingredients and store in an air-tight container.

BOULETTES - FRIED CRAWFISH BALLS - FRIED SHRIMP BALLS - FRIED CRAB BALLS

Steps:

• Peel, boil and mash the potatoes. Clean and finely chop the shrimp or grind shrimp in meat grinder or food processor. Combine with potatoes. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and spices. Add egg and mix well; form into balls, golf ball size or larger.
• As an option for a different flavor you could add bread crumbs or flour to the mixture. My Mom actually added 1/4 flour to the mixture and then rolled them in flour. You could also grate the potatoes and add them raw to the mixture.
• Roll the balls in bread crumbs, flour, or fish fry. The balls can be cooked right away but will cook better if chilled for at least an hour. Heat oil to 360 or 375 degrees or until a speck of flour dropped in the oil dances on the surface. Deep fry until golden brown.
• Serve alone or with your favorite dipping sauce goes really great with crab or shrimp stew.