A quicker, off-season version of Crawfish Bisque made using frozen pureed and whole Louisiana crawfish tails, commercial seafood or chicken stock, the trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery), tomatoes, corn and Cajun seasonings.

Shortcut Crawfish Corn Bisque

Bisque is a soup.

A fairly thick, generally smooth and creamy soup, made from seafood, though often fully pureed to intensify the flavors, leaving no recognized ingredients behind, except perhaps of a garnish.

Seafood is precious, even down here on the Gulf Coast where it is abundant, so I prefer not to puree all of it, but rather to use a fairly rough puree to add body to the soup, but also keep some pieces whole, along with the trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery) for texture and appearance.

Crawfish, simmered in a very simple butter roux, seasoned with a basic trinity, garlic, stock and Cajun seasoning, and finished with a little fresh parsley and green onion. Serve over hot rice with fresh French bread for dipping.

Crawfish Etouffée

There are so many schools of thought on how to prepare a proper crawfish etouffée. Some say with a roux, others think not. Some add tomatoes, others say there is no place for tomatoes in it. Some use the Trinity, others only part of it. One thing I think that we all can agree on is that it should be uncomplicated.

For a seafood etouffée, crawfish is traditional, although shrimp or crab can be substituted. It is a totally different taste experience from the crawfish, however, since the fat from the crawfish do contribute both a distinct flavor and a bit of color. I would suggest giving it a taste and maybe bump up the seasonings a bit. Maybe even add a dab of tomato paste also.

Crawfish Monica Copycat

Spicy crawfish in a rich and creamy butter and cream sauce, doused generously with Cajun seasoning, and tossed with rotini pasta.

Crawfish Monica

This is my copycat recipe for Crawfish Monica, a spicy, rich and creamy crawfish and pasta dish, extremely popular and once found only at a booth at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - a long running music event held in New Orleans.

With multiple stages of soul-stirring music, from jazz, to gospel, to Cajun and zydeco, rock, funk, blues, Caribbean and so much more, and more southern, Cajun, Creole and international foods than you can shake a baton at y'all.  If you've never been, you really should put it on your bucket list for sure. Check it out here.

A mixture of long grain rice, Louisiana crawfish tails, cream soups, bell pepper and spicy seasonings brings this rice dressing to life.

Crawfish Rice Dressing

I recently had the chance to give Cajun Country Rice a try and they provided me with a Crawfish Rice Dressing recipe that sounded too good to pass up.

A recipe that has been handed down from mother to daughter, it was absolutely delicious and would make a fantastic addition to any holiday, including your New Year's Eve party menu.

Minced cooked crawfish combined with egg, crushed saltines, seasonings and fresh parsley, shaped into patties and pan fried or air fried for a Deep South favorite.

Crawfish Burger Patties

Most everybody is familiar with seafood cakes in the form of crab cakes and tuna or salmon patties. All are well-loved and popular, especially here along the coast during Lent, but you may not have thought about crawfish!

I know that around the country as a whole, crawfish are, well... let's say a little weird and misunderstood and by the way you can substitute shrimp here as well, but here along the Gulf Coast and especially in Louisiana and Mississippi, crawfish season is anticipated every year like a kid at Christmas. 

Yep. Crawfish boils are a thing, and a pretty big thing here along the coast.

Crawfish in a creamy Velveeta cheese sauce served with fettuccine.

Crawfish Velveeta Fettuccine

Here's another delicious recipe that is a popular dish down south along the Coast and appropriate for Fridays during Lent. If you aren't a fan of crawfish, shrimp is an excellent substitute here. And yes y'all... this one uses Velveeta. Now... if you don't want to use that product to make this, feel free to make your own homemade cheese sauce! Just leave the rest of us to our Velveeta.

And speaking of which... here comes the soapbox "hissy fit" folks - y'all know I gotta do it!

Seafood Recipes

A collection of shrimp, crab, crawfish, fish, oyster and combination seafood recipes from the Deep South Dish website.

Seafood Recipes



Shrimp


Fried green tomatoes, topped with shrimp in a fresh tomato basil cream sauce.

Tex-Mex Style Shrimp Tacos
Shrimp Victoria
Spicy Orange Pecan Shrimp Stir Fry
Shrimp Salsa
Shrimp Poppers with Pepper Jelly Glaze
Firecracker Shrimp

Seafood Pasta Salad

A seafood pasta salad made from crab, crawfish and shrimp, dressed with a Cajun seasoned buttermilk mayonnaise blend.

Seafood Pasta Salad

This is a great coastal Deep South seafood pasta salad that is pretty common down here, and I love it, although it's more often known as Imitation Crab Salad.

I know, I know... imitation crab seems to scare some folks as if it's some kind of weird, alien substance, pretending to be food, when really, it is generally just a basic mix of Alaskan Pollock, King Crab meat and other seafood, and... it actually works great for salads like this. Personally?

I really love it in this pasta salad as well as my crab salad.

Best of the Best Mardi Gras Brunch and Party Foods Menu Ideas

Best of the Best Mardi Gras Brunch and Party Foods Menu Ideas all from Deep South Dish blog. Milk Punch, Grillades & Grits, Eggs in Purgatory, Homemade Pistolettes, Hot Crab Bread, Crab Martinis, Cajun Potato Salad, Shrimp & Bow Tie Pasta Salad, New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, Crabcakes, Muffulettas, Hot Roast Beef Po’boys, Boulettes, Natchitoches Meat Pies, Maque Choux, Crawfish Monica, Courtbouillon, Crawfish Rice Dressing, Jambalaya, Seafood & Eggplant Dressing, Cabbage au Gratin, Creole Bread Pudding, King Cake & Pralines to name a few!

Here are a few ideas of my favorite Mardi Gras appropriate recipes for your pre-parade brunch, or Mardi Gras celebration this year. Bear with me as I update my links with newer recipes.

There are a lot of other party foods that will work if you don't like these mostly Cajun/Creole types of foods. Just browse though my Appetizers and other Party Foods, or maybe you want Wings, or Ribs, or other cookout types of foods (don't worry many are grill optional) or just some good ole Southern Classics. Have a peek at that Label Cloud over there in the left hand sidebar if you prefer a different slant, or just browse through my Online Cookbook for some more ideas.

Catfish fillets, dredged in blackening seasonings and cooked in a hot cast iron skillet, served over Cajun Rice Pilaf and finished with an etouffee sauce with crawfish.

Blackened Catfish with Crawfish Etouffee

Southerners have been blackening foods since Paul Prudhomme came up with this method many years ago. Heavy seasonings seared into a piece of protein is heaven on a plate, and most of us in the Deep South have eaten it in some form or another in our lives.

It started with redfish, and seafood is most common here along the Gulf Coast of course, with catfish certainly taking a top spot on the list. These are the gorgeous filets I used this round.

A collection of Gulf Coast favorites from Deep South Dish: Beignets, fried catfish, oyster po'boy, crab bread, classic fried shrimp, baked fish, Vancleave special crabmeat and cheese po'boy, Gulf Coast shrimp and grits, tuna melt, stuffed flounder, shrimp boulettes, pan fried crab cakes and much more!

Yum

Gulf Coast Favorites

Shrimp with Bow Tie Pasta Salad

Shrimp and Salad

Shrimp and Macaroni Salad

Beach and Party Shrimp

A quick and easy, creamy corn chowder made with veggies, sautéed in bacon drippings, cubed potatoes and shrimp.

Corn Chowder with Shrimp

I started off intending to make this chowder with some frozen crawfish tails, that I was sure I had in the freezer. Unfortunately, after having to hurriedly rearrange things and transfer stuff from the refrigerator freezer, to the deep freeze, courtesy Hurricane Zeta, it was just faster and easier to grab some shrimp.

No worries. They are delicious too! The only difference really, is the flavor that comes from the fat in the crawfish, but honestly it's a good chowder either way. You can even use a combination of the two, or throw in some crab as well. Although not as popular down here, clams may also be substituted. Oysters as well.

Cajun and Creole Recipes

Gumbo, Rice Dressing, Creole Stuffed Peppers, Jambalaya, Courtbouillon, Boulettes, Crawfish Fettuccine, Natchitoches Pies, Shrimp Casserole, Dirty Rice & More!  

Roux

10 Minute Microwave General Purpose Roux
Dark Oven Roux
Homemade Gravy Basics

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Cajun and Creole Favorites



Crawfish Etouffée

Cajun Rice Dressing

Crawfish Monica

Cajun Courtbouillon

Spaghetti Daube in Creole Gravy

Shrimp Sauce Piquant

Creole Stuffed Peppers

Cajun Shrimp Dip


Grits and Grillades

Creole Meatloaf with Tomato Gravy

Creole Smothered Steak


Oven Baked Cajun Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Cajun Chicken Fricassee - Smothered Chicken and Gravy

Shrimp and Brown Gravy with Homemade Mashed Potatoes

Shrimp and Okra Gumbo

Shortcut Red Beans & Rice

Cajun Cabbage Au Gratin Casserole

Cajun Shrimp Pilaf

Seafood and Eggplant Dressing

Cajun Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Cajun Beef and Pork Boulettes with Brown Sauce


Crawfish Velvetta Fettuccini

Crabmeat Au Gratin

Shrimp Casserole

Jambalaya with Chicken, Smoked Sausage and Shrimp


Seafood and Okra Gumbo with Shrimp, Crab and Oysters

Super Easy Shortcut Crawfish or Shrimp Etoufee

Shrimp Creole

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo


Natchitoches Meat Pies

Shrimp Stuffed Pistolettes

Stuffed Crab


Cajun Dirty Rice

Cajun Sticky Chicken

Skillet Cajun Chicken and Gravy





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A creamy tomato-based stew with shrimp, crawfish and crab and served over hot, steamed rice.

Seafood Pan Roast

Several years back, I was looking through a Martha Foose cookbook, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, that contained a recipe for what was called a seafood pan roast. Since The Cajun and I don't eat out much, this was an unfamiliar dish for me.

At the time, I couldn't find much about it around the internet either and even today there still isn't much out there. I went ahead and made it, but with no photos to let me know if I was anywhere on track let's just say mine didn't turn out quite right. With the cost of seafood, I abandoned it to experiment a bit more thoroughly another time.

A cookie bar made with cherry pie filling and blueberries and drizzled with a powdered sugar glaze.

Cherry Pie Bars

This is another one of those recipes that kept passing by on my personal Facebook timeline so much that I decided to make it for our Memorial Day celebration with my son and daughter-in-law.

Since that holiday is the unofficial beginning of summer and falls right in the midst of crawfish season, they host a crawfish boil every year, along with the usual hot dogs and burgers.

One of my son's closest friends, Brad, is the master crawfish cook, so he always handles the cooking of the crawfish and does an excellent job of it. They sure were good this year! The boil has become a bit of an annual tradition for them and we look forward to it every year, though it was so hot that day, that The Cajun and I didn't stick around too long.

After the Boil Seafood Potato Salad

 

A potato salad, made with leftovers from a seafood boil, using highly seasoned red-skinned potatoes, shrimp, crawfish and crab. Shown here with fried catfish and collards If you didn't have a boil, no worries - you can still make it!

Seafood Potato Salad

What some areas of the country refer to as Frogmore Stew or "low country boils," are simply called seafood boils here in the Deep South, and they might involve shrimp, crawfish or crabs. With access to the best seafood, boils are actually a favorite addition to summer cookouts here along the Gulf Coast, and certainly one of my favorite parties to attend. If there's a boil-master manning a massive outdoor cooker that's loaded with Gulf seafood, I'm definitely in!

Social Media Roundup FOOTBALL 1 - What You Missed!

Mary’s Mint Infused Southern Sweet Iced Tea, Caramelized Vidalia Onion Dip, Cheddar Bacon Dip, Fried Jalapeno Poppers, Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings, Cajun Grilled Shrimp Skewers, Creole Meatball Po'boy, Homemade Sloppy Joes, Ratatouille and Sausage Bake, Crawfish Monica and Chocolate Lush.

Social Media Roundup FOOTBALL FOOD!

Yep, y'all... it's STILL Summer! I know, I know...

Labor Day has passed.

Kids are back to school.

And football is back!

While some of my recent social media shares have been a slight nod to the coming Fall weather and particularly appetizers and snacks for football season, we're also still hanging with some of the summer favorites too, at least for the next couple of weeks anyway.

Join Deep South Dish on Facebook, X - Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Here's the next round of what you may have missed on social media - FOOTBALL EDITION!

Tap or click on the title or the photo for any recipe you want more information on.

To see other social media round-up posts, tap/click here.

Save all of my other FOOTBALL Social Media Roundups on Pinterest for your game time inspiration!

'Mary’s Mint Infused Southern Sweet Iced Tea'

My potted mint struggled a bit this summer, but it's making a comeback! Time for some adult mojitos and maybe a little sweet tea infused with fresh mint.

'Caramelized Vidalia Onion Dip'

The Vidalia onion season is near the end y'all, so get them in while you can! Caramelizing the onions for this classic sour cream and onion dip really takes it up a notch.

'

Pasta and Rice Recipes

Pasta and Noodle Dishes


Cajun Shrimp and Linguine

Fried Pasta

Parmesan Cheesy Noodles

Pasta with Peas

Bowtie Pasta and Peas with Bacon

Recipes for Potlucks, Church Socials, Picnics & Reunions and Other Gatherings

From appetizers to main dish, dessert and everything in between, a wonderful collection of great step by step recipes from Deep South Dish, perfect for your next church supper, reunion, potluck or any other gathering.

Potlucks, Church Socials,
Picnics & Reunion Recipe Ideas

Appetizers



Classic Deviled Eggs
Sausage and Cheese Bread
Fried Jalapeno Poppers
The Basic Humble Deviled Egg
Cheese Straws



Pimento Cheese Finger Sandwiches
Basic Sausage Cheese Balls
Spicy Cheese Bites
Crispy Southern Fried Hot Wings with Spicy Dipping Sauce
Cream Cheese & Hot Pepper Jelly
Grape Jelly Cocktail Meatballs

Great eats for your tailgate or family room football party - adult beverages, poppers & fried pickles, pigs in a blanket, meat pies, hot corn dip, classic 7 layer dip, chicken salad, seafood bread, Italian Beef, sliders, po'boys, muffulettas, spicy, fried & BBQ wings, pasta salads, potato salads, hot dog sauce, Latin beef, shredded beef tacos, beans, gumbo, jambalaya, soups, stews, chili & more!

Football Tailgate and Party Foods

Looking for menu ideas for your tailgate or football party? Here's my personal collection of tried and true, all Deep South Dish, all in one spot, best of my best recipes perfect for football foods whether you're tailgating it, or watching the games on your own big screen televison. There's plenty to choose from so no matter who you're rooting for, you're sure to find something here for that menu and to please those those hungry fans.

Bookmark this and check back as I update and add to the collection regularly!

Click here for some Tailgating Food Safety tips.



Beverage

Southern Sweet Iced Tea
Pitcher Perfect Sweet Tea
Party Punch