Crawfish Boil

Crawfish and steamed crab are David's signature dishes and no doubt another family favorite. Crawfish season starts the beginning of January and lasts until the end of June. We usually get both crab and crawfish at Fiesta or an Asian market since their prices are much lower than seafood stores. David estimates about four pounds of crawfish per person, thus a sack of crawfish (28 - 35 pounds) will usually feed 7 - 9 people.

To serve, lay out a thick layer of newspaper to cover your table. Some people eat their crawfish directly on the newspaper, we're a little more civilized and use plates.  Paper plates won't work too well as they easily sog.  After you eat the crawfish just discard the shells on the newspaper. The newspaper makes for an easy clean-up. Also, have plenty of rolls of paper towels on the table, because a plain napkin will not cut it either.

**There are 5 very short video clips following the recipe that should help better explain this process.

1 sack of bugs

5 boxes of crab/shrimp/crawfish boil spice bags

Powdered crawfish boil spice (to taste)

1 container of salt

1 dozen lemons

3 - 4 artichokes

24 small New Potatoes

12 ears of corn, shucked and broken in half

Place the crawfish in a large cooler or similar container, fill with water and add the salt and stir them around for 3- 5 minutes to purge them of sand and other purgables.

Then, fill a LARGE pot filled halfway with water and throw in the spices, onion, stir and add the artichokes. Let them boil for 20 minutes, then throw in the potatoes. Let them go another 20 minutes. Then, add the crawfish and boil slowly for 15-20 minutes and then simmer.

Serve on newspaper spread out thickly on the table. Serve with Old Bay, various other spices like garlic salt, cayenne pepper, etc... and of course a good, cold beer. =)