Crawfish Mirliton Chayote Soup Recipes

CRAWFISH MIRLITON (CHAYOTE) SOUP

Steps:

• Stir dried herbs into broth and set aside.
• Saute crawfish tails in butter until warm and cooked through.
• Drain butter and crawfish juice into a pot. Set crawfish aside for later.
• Add onions, garlic, cayenne, and crab boil to butter and cook over low heat until onions are soft.
• Add mirliton and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Pour broth into pot, cover, and simmer over low heat. 25 minutes for peeled mirliton, and 30 for unpeeled.
• Use a food processor or blender to puree soup.
• Return soup to low heat, and gradually add in crawfish tails. Stir until tails are brought up to the soup's temperature.

SHRIMP-STUFFED MIRLITON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the mirliton halves cut-side down in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add 1 cup of water, cover tightly with foil and bake until soft, cooked through and easily poked with a fork, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. (Leave the oven on.) Scoop out the pulp--making sure to leave a 1/4-inch border all around--then chop the pulp and reserve. Discard the water from the baking dish and return the scooped-out mirliton halves cut-side down.
• Meanwhile, melt 6 tablespoons of the butter with the Cajun seasoning in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the celery, garlic, bell pepper, onion and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and just begin to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the sausage, hot sauce and tomatoes and cook, stirring, until the sausage is warmed through and the tomatoes start to release their juices, about 3 minutes. Add the crab, shrimp and reserved mirliton pulp and continue cooking until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Microwave the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small microwave-safe dish until melted, about 30 seconds. Add the breadcrumbs and parsley and stir until well combined.
• Turn each mirliton half over so the cut side is facing up. Stuff each with about 1/2 cup of the crab and shrimp mixture--it will seem like a lot, but that's OK. Sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture and bake until the shrimp are cooked through and the breadcrumbs turn a deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve with additional hot sauce if desired.

CREAM OF CHAYOTE SOUP

Steps:

• In a large soup pot over low heat, fry the bacon until almost all the fat is rendered, or melt the butter. Raise the heat to medium, add the onion, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the stock or water, bay leaves and potato and simmer until the potato slices are soft, about 20 minutes
• When the potato slices are soft, remove and discard the bay leaves and bacon. Add the chayotes and bring to a boil. Return the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the chayotes are soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. As each batch is pureed, pour the puree through a sieve placed over a bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract all the juices. Pour the puree back into the pot, add the cream or half-and-half and bring just to a boil. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
• Remove from the heat and ladle into warmed bowls. Slip a few lime slices into each bowl and serve hot.

MIRLITON

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add mirliton, and boil until tender, about 45 minutes. Drain, cool, and peel. Cut in half, remove seeds, and cut into cubes.
• When the mirliton are almost done, bring another pot of water to a boil. Add shrimp, and cook for about 5 minutes, until pink. Drain shrimp, reserving the water for later. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add the shrimp, ham, and cubed mirliton. Beat the egg in a small dish with a tablespoon of the water from the shrimp; pour into the baking dish. Mix in the bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper until evenly blended. If it seems a little dry, add a little more water from the shrimp. You have the choice to freeze, refrigerate, or bake at this point. Sprinkle some more breadcrumbs on top if desired.
• Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown on top.

CHAYOTE SOUP

Steps:

• Cook scallions, garlic, and chile in butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add chayotes, salt, and 1 tablespoon cilantro and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add water and simmer, covered, until chayotes are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Stir in remaining tablespoon cilantro and purée soup in 2 batches in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Season with salt.