Crawfish Bread
Ingredients
4½ tsp. active dry yeast2 cups warm water
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
7 cups plus ¼ cup all-purpose flour, divided
3 eggs, beaten, plus 1 whole egg
1¼ cup shortening, lard or butter, melted
¼ lb. (1 stick) butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, small dice
1 medium onion, small dice
2 red bell peppers, small dice
3 Tbsp. sherry
3 Tbsp. Crystal hot sauce
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1½ cups heavy cream
2 lbs. crawfish tails
2 cups shredded pepper Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
Semolina
1 Tbsp. water
Preparation
• Combine the yeast, water and sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly and
allow to sit in a warm spot for about 10 minutes or until very foamy.
• Combine the salt and 7 cups of the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeast mixture and, using a dough hook, mix them together on low speed. After mixing for 1 minute, slowly add in the beaten eggs.
• Once the eggs are thoroughly combined, drizzle in the melted shortening, lard or butter. Continue mixing for 5 minutes on low speed.
• Remove the dough to an oiled mixing bowl. Cover loosely with a towel and allow to proof until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Punch the dough down. The dough is ready to use or it can be refrigerated for
later use.
• In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Sweat the garlic, celery,
onion and bell peppers until translucent. Add the sherry and cook for 1 minute. Add the hot sauce, Worcestershire, onion powder and garlic powder.
• Add the remaining ¼ cup flour, stirring constantly so that nothing burns and there are no lumps. Add the heavy cream and cook over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or until the raw flour flavor has been cooked out.
• Add the crawfish tails and cook for another 5 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the cheeses.
• Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne. Transfer the crawfish mixture to a casserole dish and cool completely in the refrigerator.
• To assemble, prepare a baking tray with a copious amount of semolina in order to prevent the crawfish breads from sticking. Preheat a fryer to 350 degrees and an oven to 250 degrees. Prepare an egg wash by whisking together the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
• Measure the dough into eight 4-ounce portions. On a flour-dusted surface, roll
out the dough to a 7-inch circle a little more than 1∕8-inch thick. Brush
the dough with the egg wash, then place slightly less than ½ cup of the crawfish
filling slightly off center on each piece of dough. Fold the dough over the
filling into a half-moon shape, pressing the dough close to the filling to minimize
air pockets.
• Using a fork, crimp the edges of each bread. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to
remove the excess edge and transfer to the semolina-dusted baking tray.
• Place the breads into the fryer, frying no more than two breads at a time. Fry for 3 minutes on the first side, then gently flip the bread and fry for 2 minutes on the second side. Carefully remove from the fryer and drain on a baking tray lined with paper towels. Hold the crawfish bread in the oven until you’re ready to serve them.