Recipe(tried): Crawfish or Shirmp Au Gratin, Crawfish or Shrimp Stew, Cajun Eggplant, Jambalaya

CRAWFISH/SHRIMP AUGRATIN

3 tablespoons butter
1 bunch green onion tops -- chopped
2/3 cup fresh parsley -- chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
6 ounces American cheese -- grated
3 ounces Swiss cheese -- grated
1 pound crawfish tails or shrimp -- peeled

Saute onions and butter in a 2-quart casserole on High 3 minutes.
Add flour cream,wine, salt, pepper, Tabasco, and garlic.
Cook on High 1 1/2-2 minutes.
Stir cheese into hot mixture until it is melted.
Cover with wax paper and cook on High 6 minutes.
Stir half way through cooking time.
Add noodles or serve on top.

Half and half may need to be adjusted if mixture becomes too thick.

SHRIMP/CRAWFISH STEW

1 cup cooking oil
1 cup all purpose flour
5 onions
4 ribs celery
1 bell pepper
4 bay leaves
1/2 cup ketchup
3 pounds shrimp -- cleaned, deveined
8 cups boiling water/chicken broth

Make roux: brown oil and flour until dark brown-stirring constantly.(should be chocolate brown)
Add onions, celery, bell pepper, and reduce heat to medium.
Cook until seasoning is soft.
Add everything except shrimp and add salt, black pepper, and cayenne to taste.
Simmer this for one hour, add shrimp and simmer half hour.
Serve over rice.

CAJUN EGGPLANT

2 eggplants -- peel, chop, cook
1 cup cheese -- grated
1 cup bread crumbs -- seasoned
1 lb. crawfish/shrimp
1 large onion -- chopped
1 bell pepper -- chopped
1/2 cup celery -- chopped
1/2 stick butter
salt, pepper, creole/cajun seasoning- to taste

Saute crawfish/shrimp, onion, bell pepper, and celery in butter.
Combine all ingredients.
Bake until brown-35-45 minutes.

JAMBALAYA

oil
1 chicken -- cut up or boned
1 pound sausage
2 cups onions -- chopped
1 cup celery -- chopped
1 cup green pepper -- chopped
1 tablespoon garlic -- chopped
2 cups long grain rice
3 1/2 cups stock or stock substitute
1 heaping tsp salt
cayenne pepper to taste
1 cup green onions -- chopped

Season and brown chicken in oil (lard, bacon
drippings) over med-hi heat.
(I sometimes use boiled or left over baked chicken.)
Add sausage to pot and saute with chicken.Remove
from pot.
* If you want shrimp--saute and remove from pot.
Saute onions, celery, green pepper and garlic to the
tenderness that you desire.
Return chicken and sausage to pot.
Add liquid and salt, pepper, parsley and other
desired seasonings (I use about a teaspoon of creole
seasoning instead of salt and a few dashes of hot
sauce) and bring to boil.
Add rice and return to boil. Cover and reduce heat
to simmer.
Simmer for 20 minutes minutes.
After 10 minutes of cooking, remove cover and
quickly turn rice form top to bottom completely.
Add green onions, if desired.
Return seafood here.Return cover and continue
cooking 10 minutes.
After total of 20 minutes stir once, remove from heat,
let sit 10 minutes.

** Most Cajuns make brown jambalaya. If you like
the tomatoey New Orleans or Creole style----For
red jambalaya, replace half of stock with tomato
sauce.

NOTE: This makes lots, but it freezes well.