Meet Our Guest:

Kevin “Bah Buh Cue” Weber

Currently he hails from the great state of Mississippi, but he grew up a True Blue Ragin’ Cajun right outside of New Orleans (I believe it’s pronounced “naw-lin’s” if he taught me correctly.) Kevin knows a thing or two about Crawfish and Cookin’ (he has a grill company named after him for goodness sake!).  I asked him to gives us his Crawfish Boil recipe and he delivered! I’ve had his and plenty of other crawfish, and his are the best I’ve had! Well, enough about him, let’s talk about food! Take it away Kevin!

Let me just start out by saying that there are an infinite number of crawfish boil recipes out there from every redneck and his brother with a pot and a paddle. This recipe is a combination of how I grew up watching them boiled combined with how I’ve boiled ‘em since I became a big boy. I’ve generally stuck with the Zatarain’s brand for boil products over the years. There’s other “Louisiana” products out there or recipes to make your own seasoning, but I like how the Zatarain’s boil comes out and it’s fairly idiot proof…which is perfect for some. Also, a lot of the aforementioned rednecks like to see how hot they can get them, but personally I don’t care to eat five crawfish and then have to quit because I just destroyed every one of my taste buds and can’t feel my lips. This recipe certainly has a good bit of heat, but it’s also balanced with good flavor.

 What You’ll Need:

• A good bit of money
• A sack of crawfish, 30-40lbs
• An 80 or 100qt boiling pot
• A high pressure burner
• Propane
• A paddle or spider with a long handle
• A mesh bag (of the drawstring laundry type)
• Bag of Yellow Onions
• Bag of New potatoes (the little red ones)
• Lots of garlic
• Lemons
• Celery
• Smoked Sausage (Eckridge is a good choice)
• Miscellaneous crap (artichokes, mushrooms, hotdogs, etc…I’ve seen it all)
• Tub of Zatarain’s Crab Boil powder (but wait…we’re boiling crawfish, right? Yeah, I know, but that’s what they call it…)
• Jar of Zatarain’s crab boil liquid
• Box of Zatarain’s crab boil bags
• Beer/Ice
• 3 empty 2 liter bottles (Genuine Coke products, not the cheap-o stuff)

The Prep, Process and Cook:

This is a recipe for about 1 sack of bugs, which is anywhere from 30 – 40 lbs. Step one: Get a beer (this step can and should be inserted as much as you want throughout the process). Prior to the boil fill the 3 two liter bottles with water and stick ’em in the freezer, preferably the day before. These will be used later.

Fill your pot with water, but not so much that when you drop the crawfish in it will spill over the top, that will ruin your day. If you’re a pro, you’ll already have a boil line in your port from previous boils. If it’s your first boil (everyone has to start somewhere, right?), fill your pot and drop the live crawfish in the basket and see how high the water gets, this will help find your line.

Clean ‘Em

Chances are the crawfish are dirty (they do generally come from the swamp.) Grab a hose… I usually put the crawfish in the pot basket and fill the pot up, lift the basket up and down letting the water swish around and clean the crawfish. Dump and repeat until the water if pretty clean (this just depends on how anal you are, or how much you like to each crawfish poop).

Once they’re cleaned, keep them in the basket and set aside in the shade, maybe throw a bag of ice (keep the ice in the bag) on top the basket to keep them cool while you get the boil going.

Heat It Up

Crank up the burner and start to heat the water. Once there’s some good heat put the following in the pot:

I use a whole one of these (The Powder)

Then a little bit of the liquid boil (about 3 glups……glup…glup…glup! Sorry that’s how I measure it)

And 3 of the bags in this pack.

Just a pinch of salt, cause the powder has a lot of salt, already. Ok, maybe little more than a pinch, give it a few swirls around the pot.

While you’re waiting for the pot to boil, cut your onions, garlic, and lemons in half (squeeze the lemon juice into the water, but keep the spent fruit for the bag.) You can cut your potatoes or keep the whole depending on the size; However, if you do cut them, expect them to take on some heat. Put all veggies, potatoes, and sausage into that drawstring mesh laundry bag and set aside. We will cook them shortly!

Start Cookin’

Once the water has reached a rolling boil, put your mesh bag of goodies in and boil for 15 minutes, then take out. Have an ice chest, laundry hamper, whatever to hold the veggies so you don’t have them on the ground (I’m anal). Once the water has come back to a rolling boil add the crawfish (in the basket) and put the lid on pot. Adding the crawfish will stop the water from boiling so you’ll need to wait for it come back up again.

Once you see good smoke (steam) coming from the pot, check to see if the water is boiling again, then set your clock precisely two (2) minutes. After two minutes turn the burner off. This is when those 3 -two liters come in handy. Drop the frozen two liters in and push them down into the water with your paddle. Also, grab the hose and hose down the sides and bottom of pot.What you’re doing is cutting the boil and trying to stop the crawfish from cooking…quickly!

REMEMBER: Overcooked crawfish = Hard to peel = Wasted money = Ain’t nobody happy

Finish It Off

Throw the mesh bag on top the crawfish and put the lid back on (it may not all fit nice and pretty depending on the size of your pot). Grab a beer, wipe your forehead and have a seat. Let the crawfish soak for 20-30 minutes tasting one about every 5 minutes till they hit the heat/flavor/saltiness you’re looking for. Serve all together when they’re ready.

Add some Abita Strawberry for a refreshing beverage while you eat!! I don’t know why strawberry and crawfish go together…they just do.

Thanks! Hope everyone enjoys some crawfish very soon!

– Kevin