Crawdad Festival recipes

This is the winning recipe from the Crawdad Festival Cajun Cookoff in Lakeside over the weekend. Jim Ring and Dave Taylor won for their  shrimp etouffee. Mattie Lane finished third with her sweet potato pie recipe. Both recipes follow:

Shrimp Etouffee

1⁄2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

11⁄2 teaspoons dried thyme crushed

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoons dried basil crushed

3⁄4 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon black pepper

3⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 ribs celery, diced

2 medium yellow onions, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

4 cups chicken broth

4 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper

1 tablespoon margarine

2 pounds medium shrimp peeled and deveined

Chopped green onion, for garnish

Thin sliced, red, orange and yellow bell pepper for garnish

Hot cooked rice

 In a large, skillet, heat the oil over medium heat; slowly add flour, stirring constantly. Cook until dark brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning

Remove from heat and stir in seasoned salt, thyme, paprika, basil, white and black pepper, and cayenne. Transfer mixture to a large saucepan; stir in celery, onions and green bell peppers. Cook over medium heat, stirring until vegetables are tender.

Stir in broth; bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Add red bell pepper 10 minutes before end of cooking time.

In a skillet, melt the margarine and sauté shrimp until pink. Add to the etouffee sauce and heat through. Top with chopped green onion, sliced bell pepper and serve over rice.

4 generous servings.

Lake Bourdeaux sweet potato pecan pie

Mattie Lane said she got the original recipe out of a 1930s-era cookbook and then tweaked it a little by doubling the spices to pep up the taste.

“This is similar to pumpkin but people I’ve served it to who don’t like pumpkin pie, like this one,” she said. “The texture is slightly different too.”

1 # 300 can mashed sweet potatoes (you can cook and mash fresh potatoes but I can’t taste any difference and it just makes more work)

1 unbaked pie crust dough shell

11⁄2 cup milk

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoon ginger

3 eggs

2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 cup pecans (be generous here too!)

Add mashed sweet potatoes to hot milk, sugar, butter, seasonings.  Mix gradually into beaten eggs (don’t overbeat – just beat until mixed).  Pour into unbaked 9-in pie shell with standing rim.  Sprinkle with chopped pecans.  Bake in 425 degree oven until filling is set, about 35-40 minutes.  Makes one 9-inch pie.