Café Normandie’s Stuffed Crawfish Bisque Buckwheat Crepe
12 Buckwheat Crepes (*recipe below)
2 pounds Crawfish Bisque (*recipe below)
2 pounds bechamel (*recipe below)
½ pound fresh Morel mushrooms
Olive oil
3 Shallots, chopped
1 pound Louisiana crawfish tails
12 large eggs
Chives
4 cups Gruyere, shredded
Mix bechamel and crawfish bisque.
In a hot sauté pan, add olive oil, chopped shallots, crawfish tails and Morels (keep a few Morels for garnish). Cook a few minutes. Set aside.
Place crepes on a flat surface. In the middle add 2-3 spoons of bisque and bechamel mix. Top with Gruyere.
With spatula lift edges of the crepe to form a square. Place on a plate when hot.
Cook 1 egg over easy. Place on top of each crepe.
Place sautéed Morels and crawfish tails on the top of crepes. Add chopped chives to garnish.
Crawfish Bisque
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups onions, diced
1/2 cup bell peppers, diced
1 cup celery, diced
2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
1 cup flour
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3 quarts crawfish stock (vegetable stock can be substituted)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound Louisiana crawfish tails
Salt and black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Tabasco
In a large heavy pot or cast-iron Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until dark brown roux is achieved. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Sauté vegetables until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add tomato sauce and stir. Add stock gradually, stirring well to incorporate. Add salt, black pepper, paprika and cayenne, and stir.
Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add crawfish tails and reduce a few minutes more. Adjust salt, black pepper and hot sauce to taste.
Buckwheat Crepes
1 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/4-1/2 cup water
Combine all ingredients (except water) in a blender, and blend until smooth.
Cover batter and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Thin batter with water, using less water for thicker crêpes and more water for thinner ones.
Preheat a crêpe pan or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly grease with butter, oil or pan spray. Pour enough batter to thinly coat the bottom of the pan; swirling the pan as you pour to ensure an even coating.
Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on the first side, until it’s golden and lifts from the pan easily. Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes on other side.
Transfer cooked crêpes to a plate, stacking them on top of one another, keeping a towel over them.
Bechamel
2 cups milk
1 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
Pinch nutmeg
½ cup Parmesan
Heat milk in a heavy saucepan.
Keep aside.
In a separate saucepan melt butter. Add flour and stir until golden.
Whisking constantly, add hot milk. Bring milk to simmer for a few minutes.
Continue to whisk for 10 minutes, until flour is cooked.
Whisk in the nutmeg and cheese.
Café Normandie
The Higgins Hotel, 1000 Magazine St., 528-1941, HigginsHotelNola.com
