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Yesterday was my second annual CrawFEST, a festival some friends of mine have once a year. 600 lbs of crawfish are flown up from Louisiana and they're boiled up all day.
Boiled with corn on the cob, potatoes, heads of garlic, onions, sausages, and tons of hot seafood-boil spice. With a bunch of kegs on the lawn nearby, the crawfish are thrown down on newspaper-covered tables and we eat and drink all day.
Live bands, family fun for the kids, dogs running around unleashed, lots of fine looking ladies in summer weather clothes *ehem*, and an unbelievably great time.
Any other head-suckers here? Share your crawfest/crabboil stories and recipes.
Posts: 180 | Registered: Jun 2001
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That sounds like so much fun. I've never eaten crawfish but I remember being fascinated but the ones I would see playing in a creek near my house.
Posts: 399 | Registered: Dec 2008
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That sounds pretty awesome, nik. Wish I had one of those nearby. (Maybe I should organize one. Do they charge admission or are they just extraordinarily generous?)
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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They have donation jugs setup (empty paint buckets with money slots in the top). Everyone is invited to donate according to their participation (i.e. how much you eat and drink).
If you're going to eat and drink all day and all night, the recommended donation is somewhere near $15 per person. Most people aren't there all day though, and also kids and some adults won't be visiting the kegs, so it's really left up to each person how much to put in.
Many people bring dishes as well, like potato salad, pastas, casaroles, etc. There's a dessert table, and a drinks table too with 2-liters, jugs of lemonade or tea, etc.
Posts: 180 | Registered: Jun 2001
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I have been in Louisiana for six years but have only been to one or two crawfish boils. They're great parties but as for the actual crawfish, it's slot of work for very little meat.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Yay crawfish season! The Texas Crawfish Music Festival just ended, but was awesome. Live Zydeco and Texas country with fried Boudin Balls, seafood beignets, etouffee, gah... drool. Unfortunately it's kinda pricey and the boiled crawfish was small and not spicy enough. So we had to go to my friends crawfish boil right after, with big 'ol spicy mud bugs. Gotta love this season. I'm hoping to hit a boil every weekend if I can.
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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My parents just came back from a fishing trip in South Texas. I had them bring me crawfish and shrimp back. I only boiled 6 lbs, but I made gumbo and etouffee too. You are missing the mushrooms in your boil. How as the size of your mudbugs? I had some huge ones this year.
Posts: 1766 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Ah, forgot, yes there were mushrooms in there. Halfed lemons in the boil too. They were alright sized, most between 3-4". They call them mudbugs in Texas?
Posts: 180 | Registered: Jun 2001
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I'm hoping to do get out and catch some this year. I have a feeling they'd be perfect for my Jambalaya recipe. Here's hoping!
Posts: 681 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Mud bugs is a slang, I recall it being prevelant in Louisiana too. I've never had mushrooms in a boil before. Do you use just the regular grocery store variety or something fancy? Usually we use lots of fresh thyme, whole peppers, onions (white and pearl), whole garlic, lemons, potatoes and corn (or maybe green beans). You know, that or a bag of Tony C's crawfish seasoning.
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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Yeah, mud bugs is slang. We just use the regular grocery store mushrooms. I haven't tried green beans. My favorite is always the mushrooms and sausage. My wife likes the corn and potatoes the most.
Posts: 1766 | Registered: Feb 2006
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We used to catch crawdads in a creek in Oregon. We'd fill a big double sink and clean them (twist the center two tail fins and then pull the guts out) and then boil them up. We didn't do much else, just open them and dip in butter, but they were delicious. That was a long time ago.
I tried catching some around here using the same method, and it never worked. I know there are some in the creek nearby, because I see one every once in a while, but I haven't been able to catch them in any numbers.
A few years ago, I bought some Crayfish frozen at the supermarket, and they tasted literally, like mud. Yechh!
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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