See I got him, see the size! Stripped and cleaned before your eyes. Sweet meat look, fresh and ready to cook.

Watch the upper left corner/center 'bout 25 sec into the video and ya will see Mr. Crawfish! At 'bout 50 sec, ya can see him being pulled in from the center of the video!



Such a crappy vid, but see how the dang guy won't let go off the jerky once he gets it? Crazy easy to catch 'em!

What'd I do with 'em crawfish? Well, there wasn't enough for a big meal (got 'bout seventeen) so we got prawns (I wanted chicken but what was at the store looked groossss.) and made 'crab'cakes! Dang yummy. To go with it, I made chipotle mayonnaise mm good stuff in an egg sandwich in the morning!



Crawfish Cakes with Chipotle Tartar Sauce

Homemade mayonnaise:
if making by hand, use an egg yolk only rather than a whole egg
1 large egg
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 1/4 cups sunflower oil
juice of 1/2 lemon

Put the egg, mustard, vinegar, and seasoning in a processor with the metal blade; process until blended.
With the machine on full speed, gradually add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream.
When the mayonnaise is thick, remove the lid, add the lemon juice, and process to combine. Check seasoning. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

variation: chipotle mayonnaise- add 1-2 chipotles and a tablespoon+ of adobo sauce (from can of chipotles)

Tartar sauce:
instead of adding dried chipotles, I made chipotle mayonnaise
2 dried chipotle peppers
1/2 cup prepared mayonnaise
1 tbsp chopped green onions
juice of lemon
salt and pepper

In a cast-iron skillet over high heat pan roast peppers, toasting them on all sides, until smoky and slightly charred. Chop finely.
In a small bowl combine with remaining sauce ingredients. Adjust seasonings, to taste, with salt and pepper.



Crawfish cakes:
2 tbsp + 1 tsp oil
1 cup shelled crawfish tails
2 tbsp each chopped onion, red bell pepper, celery
creole spice
1 egg
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
chopped parsley for garnish

In a sauté pan heat 1 teaspoon oil, add chopped onion, red pepper and celery, and toss and cook 2 minutes until tender. Remove pan from heat and add garlic, crawfish meat, and 1 teaspoon Creole spice or to taste. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside to cool.
Mix in egg and enough bread crumbs for mixture to bind; adjust seasonings to taste with salt, pepper and Creole spice. Form into 4 equal patties and flatten to 3/4-inch thick.
Heat remaining oil in a sauté pan and cook cakes on both sides until brown and crispy. Serve garnished with parsley and a dollop of tartar sauce.



The salad is red oak lettuce picked from my own little vegetable garden, candied walnuts (walnuts lightly toasted in walnut oil and brown sugar), Humboldt Fog (best blue cheese ever) and lemon vinaigrette that I made.
In the bowl is chipotle tartar sauce and the can w/ lid is my vinaigrette. Jesse also filled a bowl with sour patch kids for dessert, and in the glasses is Petite Sirah from Jesse's parent's winery.

Yum!

Here's a cute picture of Grizzly, the silliest little Manx ever.