Crawdad Tails Recipes

Steps:

• Combine the rice and 6 cups water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until rice is tender and water has been absorbed.
• While the rice is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and saute until transparent. Stir in the garlic, and cook for a minute. Stir in the flour until well blended. Gradually stir in the tomato sauce and remaining 1 cup water, then add the crawfish tails and bring to a simmer. Add the green onions and season with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes over low heat, until the crawfish is cooked but not tough. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Steps:

• Put the crawfish tails and onion in a large glass container.
• Bring 1 cup water, the vinegar, olive oil, garlic, peppercorns, allspice, coriander seeds, celery seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, dill seeds, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, sugar, and ginger to a boil in a nonreactive saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes. Pour the hot liquid over the crawfish and onion. Let cool, then cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• Notes
• If you like, 1 1/2 pounds peeled boiled shrimp can be substituted for the crawfish in this recipe.
• I like to serve these with assorted pickled peppers and vegetables for a spicy snack with cocktails or on top of leafy green salads. Quite good stirred into pasta salads, too.
• This pickling-spice mixture works well with many recipes that call for pickling spice. Make a big old batch of this spice blend (minus the fresh ginger) to give as gifts for friends who are into home canning.