(Jambalaya) Crawfish Pie (File Gumbo) Recipe

"For tonight, I'm gonna see my ma cher-amio..."

Cooter Brown's is a cave-like bar in New Orleans that serves GIANT sandwiches loaded with fatty, meaty goodness. Mr. Luz and I went there after our first date and ran into native of my hometown, St. Louis, Missouri. As I wolfed down my GIANT reuben sandwich, Mr. St. Louisan told Mr. Luz "Only a St. Louis girl could appreciate a sandwich that much!" As they say, the rest is history.

When a few of my friends told me that they celebrate March 14th with a Pi/e Party, I immediately thought about Cooter Brown's Boudreaux Special, made with mini crawfish pies. The menu description is as follows: "Ms. Wheat's crawfish pies on french bread with remoulade sauce. So good it'll make you wanna slap yo grandmamma!" By the way, I don't mess around with grandmamas. When Grandmama P. passed away, she told me that if I ever felt a swift kick in the ass as I was doing something wrong, that I shouldn't turn around, it's just her telling me to knock it off. And Grandmama McBride took on an F-350 pickup truck. No sir, I don't eff with grandmamas. But I do love crawfish pie.

I made my pie crusts based on The Parsley Thief's recipe, found here. I also realized that I hate making pie crust in general, much less 25 mini pie crusts; next time I'll just use the store bought crap. Amateur Gourmet, I am decidedly not a pie dough personality. For tweaks on The Parsley Thief's recipe, see Tips and Tricks below.

Crawfish Pie Recipe
5-6 prepared pie shells, thawed
1 lb. peeled crawfish tails
1 package crab boil
1 1/2 cup sliced okra (if using frozen, thaw first)
2 tsp. oil
1 large tomato, coarse chopped
1 stick butter (woot!)
1/2 cup flour
1 cup diced white onions
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped green onion
2 cups smoked sausage, diced
3 Tbs. Tony's Lite Seasoning, or another low-sodium cajun spice blend
Cayenne pepper and salt to taste
Flour
3 egg whites, lightly whisked

Put crawfish tails and crab boil packet in a large pot, barely cover with water. Bring pot to a boil, immediately turn off heat, and let crawfish tails soak for 30 min.-1 hour. Drain and return to the pot.
Saute okra in oil on medium-low heat, until the ropiness is gone and the okra has caramelized on the bottom of the pan. (10-15 minutes.) Remove okra, let cool, and chop OR pulse several times in a food processesor. Add okra to the drained crawfish. Saute tomato in the okra pan on low, stirring until the browned bits have released from the bottom of the pan.
Melt the butter and add the flour. Stir constantly to make a light roux (approx. 4-6 minutes).
Add the trinity (white onion, celery, green pepper) and saute until the veggies are soft. Add the sausage and saute for 3 minutes. Add the crawfish & okra, the tomato mixture, Tony's Seasoning, and the green onions. Stir until heated through. Set aside to cool.
Spread pie crusts out onto floured surface. Use a biscuit cutter, or a water glass to cut circles in the dough. Spoon filling onto the pastry circles, and fold in half. **It is easiest to assemble the pastries if you pull one side of the pastry to meet the other, lifting both sides off the counter and sealing with your fingertips pressing on either side. You can use your fingers to push the filling to the center of the pastry as you seal.** If the pastries do not seal, use a small amount of water on the seamed edges.

Crimp with a fork, and place onto a floured baking sheet. Freeze until ready to bake, or bake immediately, spaced out on a separate baking sheet. To bake, preheat the oven to 450 F. Spray baking sheet w/non-stick cooking spray or cover with parchment paper. Brush pastries lightly with egg whites, and bake for 18-20 minutes--until golden brown. (If frozen, bake for an additional 5 minutes).

Tips and Tricks:

If the pastry gets too sticky, add flour and/or return to the refrigerator to set.

It takes time to get the filling/dough ratio correct, and these boogers are yummy but they are not easy to put together.

Serve w/a remoulade sauce, (see below) which can be made w/many ingredients you already have in your fridge, plus some leftover from your crawfish-pie filling.