- I have had a package of crawdad tails in the freezer for over a month waiting for a rainy day cook. Today was that day. I decided to do a shrimp and crawdad etouffee with keto cheese "grits". The entire meal as always is keto approved.
First up the "grits". I often do these with smoked gouda but decided today to use a nice gruyere cheese.
Ingredients:
- 18 oz riced cauliflower
- 1 cup hemp hearts
- 6 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tbsp cream cheese
- 8 oz. shredded Gruyere
Melt the butter and then cook the cauliflower and hemp hearts until tender. Add the remaining ingredients except for the cheese and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes. Add the cheese and stir until you have a consistent creamy mix. These will thicken up to a nice consistency when the cool a bit.
Etouffee Ingredients:
1 lbs. peeled veined crawdad tails
1 lbs. peeled veined shrimp
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup almond flour
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced bell pepper (I used poblanos)
1 cup diced celery
4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp each smoked paprika, oregano and thyme (I used fresh oregano and thyme from my garden so 1 tbsp each)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
14 oz. can of diced tomatoes drained
First up making a roux with the butter and almond flour.
Adding the veggies to the roux and cooking until soft.
Adding the garlic and spices and simmer for a few minutes
Next up adding in the cream, dream cheese, chicken stock, tomato paste and tomatoes.
Simmered the liquids for about 10 minutes to thicken some and then added the shrimp and crawdad tails. Increased heat a bit and cooked until the shrimp and crawdad tails were cooked. Off to a bowl with some green onions on top.
Made a quick appetizer frying scallops in my cast iron in a tarragon infused butter with lemon. Cooked a mushroom medley with them as well. Served up with the butter and some tarragon sprigs. I did not get as nice a sear on the scallops as I wanted but overall they were delicious and the tarragon butter was great with them. Tarragon is something I do not use much but need to use more. Really nice flavor.
Here is the etouffee plated. I fried a few of the shrimp in butter while making the appetizer and dusted them with Tony C's cajun spice. to serve on a skewer with the etouffee.
That is a wrap. This stuff was very tasty. Next time I make kick the cayenne up a notch but overall this dish was amazing. The etouffee really goes well with the "grits" making for a really great mouthful of food. Not doubt the fresh herbs helped kick things up a notch too. As always thanks for looking.