Crawfish & Crab Soup

Serves 4-5

This is almost like a gumbo, minus the okra and a bit thinner but the flavor is definitely there. I think soup sometimes can be overlooked or too simple but this recipe surprises everybody on the complexity of flavor it has.

¼ lb butter, split
½ cup flour
2 cups onion, small diced
2 cups celery, small diced
2 cups green bell pepper, small diced
1 tbl. garlic, minced
1 tbl. Cajun spice (see pg XX)
1 tbl. file gumbo powder
1/3 cup absinthe
4 cups canned tomatoes, diced
1 cup corn kernels
8 cups lobster stock
2 ea. bay leaves
1 cup crabmeat
2 cups crawfish tail meat
½ cup parsley, chopped small
1 bu. scallions, finely chopped
s&p tt 

To make a roux, bake half of the butter and flour for 45 minutes in a small casserole dish, whisking every 15 minutes throughout the cooking process. DON’T BURN!

In a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat add remaining butter and saute onion, celery, green pepper and garlic until slightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add in roux and spices and cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze with absinthe then add in the tomatoes, corn, lobster stock, bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add crab meat & crawfish and cook for 2 more minutes so not to overcook shellfish. Remove from heat and add parsley & scallions. Season with S&P.