Begin by heating a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. If you have not already done so, dice up your vegetables and bacon.
Add diced bacon and butter and let the butter melt as the bacon crisps up.
1 tablespoon butter, 2 - 3 ounces smoked bacon, diced
When the bacon is crispy, do your best to scrape the bits of bacon off of the bottom of the pot.
Now add the onions, celery, and green pepper to the melted butter and bacon. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes.
½ cup white or yellow onion, ½ cup green bell pepper, ¼ cup celery
Next, add minced garlic.
½ tablespoon garlic
Continue cooking until the onions are translucent and soft. The garlic should also become fragrant.
Now, add the Creole seasoning and let that cook for about a minute. It will smell so good!
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
Then sprinkle the flour over the vegetable and Creole seasoning mixture and stir it until it thickens almost into a paste.
⅛ cup all-purpose flour
Continue stirring while this cooks so the flour doesn't burn to the bottom of the pot - it should take about one minute.
Now gradually add the stock to this mixture. I start with about a third of the stock, then let it start to simmer a little before adding the remainder of it.
2 cups chicken broth
Bring this to a gentle boil/simmer.
Next, add tomatoes, parsley, thyme, kosher salt, and Worcestershire sauce.
½ cup tomatoes, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon dried thyme, ½ teaspoon dried parsley, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Return to a simmer, then stir in cream.
¼ cup heavy cream
Simmer uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Finally, add the crawfish tails. Mix to combine then return the étouffée to a simmer (about 2 - 3 minutes) and remove from heat. The crawfish tails are already cooked, so they will get rubbery if cooked too long.
1 pound peeled Crawfish tails
Serve immediately with green onion rice (or plain white rice) and a sprinkle of green onions on top.
cooked rice, green onions, chopped