Saucy Crawfish with Whole Corn Grits

8 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: Johnny Autry; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl
Hands-on Time
46 Mins
Total Time
46 Mins
Yield
Serves 6 (serving size: about 1/2 cup crawfish mixture and 2/3 cup grits)
By Adam Hickman
August 2012
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Substitute shrimp for the crawfish, if you prefer. Toasting the flour brings nutty flavor to the sauce, similar to a brown roux. Microgreens make an elegant garnish.

Ingredients

  • Grits:
  • 3 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels
  • 1 chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup uncooked regular grits
  • 2 ounces reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese (about 1/2 cup)
  • 3 tablespoons light sour cream
  • Crawfish:
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped andouille sausage or kielbasa (about 1.5 ounces)
  • 2/3 cup chopped onion
  • 2/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons tomato paste
  • 8 ounces cooked crawfish tail meat (about 1 2/3 cups)
  • 1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
  • 1/4 cup light sour cream
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, divided

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 365
  • Fat 11.2g
  • Satfat 5.8g
  • Monofat 2.6g
  • Polyfat 0.7g
  • Protein 23.3g
  • Carbohydrate 44g
  • Fiber 2.4g
  • Cholesterol 99mg
  • Iron 3mg
  • Sodium 530mg
  • Calcium 394mg

How to Make It

Step 1

To prepare grits, combine 1/2 cup milk, corn, and chipotle chile in a blender; process until the corn is coarsely chopped.

Step 2

Combine remaining 3 cups milk, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Gradually add grits, stirring with a whisk. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 11 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Add corn mixture; cook an additional 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; add cheese and 3 tablespoons sour cream, stirring until cheese melts. Keep warm.

Step 3

To prepare crawfish, place flour in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Remove flour from pan; set aside. Wipe pan clean.

Step 4

Return pan to medium heat. Add oil and sausage to pan; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add reserved flour, tomato paste, and crawfish; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in 1 cup milk; bring to a simmer, and cook 2 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/4 cup sour cream. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon chives over crawfish mixture. Stir 3 tablespoons chives into grits; serve with crawfish mixture.

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Ratings & Reviews

trudy48's Review

dwhite1106
August 30, 2012
This dish was excellent. There was no crawfish to be found at our local market, so, like the others, I substituted shrimp and some crab. That worked out great. Since there was a lot of prep work, I wasn't sure I would make it again, but, after eating it, it's a keeper! We enjoyed it with a green vegetable on the side and a nice bottle of white wine. Yummy! The only thing I would change is to make only half of the grits, too much for us, but I loved the flavor with the corn and chipotle pepper.

tmerch's Review

trudy48
August 18, 2012
This recipe was fantastic! It required a decent amount of prep and hands-on cooking, but was still ready to eat in under an hour. My husband remarked that it looked like a restaurant-quality dish, and I have to agree. I followed the recipe exactly and topped each serving with arugala microgreens for some extra color and texture. It was filling and delicious, and we'll be adding it to our dinner rotation.

ctaylor000's Review

wonderwab
August 05, 2012
N/A

dwhite1106's Review

veryslowcook
July 29, 2012
Amazing..also used shrimp; was very flavorful and filling.

wonderwab's Review

ALewis12
July 28, 2012
This recipe was sooooo good! I followed as written, with the exception of substituting shrimp for the crawfish. The grits were a bit more substantial than regular grits, likely due to the addition of the corn mixture. This is now our favorite 'shrimp and grits' recipe!

ALewis12's Review

kategerencser
July 16, 2012
I had a big bag of shrimp so I used that instead of crawfish, but other than that followed the recipe. The flavors were SOOOO good. The only thing I think I'll change for next time is to serve the crawfish/shrimp mixture over something with a little more texture - like rice with the chile, corn, milk mixture.

kategerencser's Review

tmerch
August 30, 2012
N/A