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and adapted from there based on experience and tidbits of advice
from other boilers.
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Can you recall the first time you boiled crawfish for a lot of
people?
Lundi Gras 2008. I lived on Tchoupitoulas near where the parades
lined up, so I decided to throw a huge boil. We did crawfish, along
with grilled oysters and boudin. Everyone got full on the crawfish
and oysters, so we wound up passing out most of the boudin to
people waiting to roll on their floats, including Sean Payton and
Peppa from Salt n’ Peppa. It was pretty cool.
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Any tricks/secrets you would like to share?
Something I just learned at the end of last season, if you steam the
crawfish in an ice chest, tilt the ice chest up on one side and open
the drain spout so that liquid does not accumulate in the ice chest.
This keeps them steaming, hot and ready to serve without bacteria
forming in the liquid.
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What else do you throw into the boil?
The standards: corn, garlic, potatoes, onions, sausage, mushrooms,
lemons and oranges. Creative extras: edamame, pineapple, pork ribs,
frozen boneless chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, baby artichokes,
brussels sprouts, baby carrots, green beans and whole sweet peppers.
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Ideal time of day for boiling?
I like to light the pot at noon, serve the first batch around 2 and be
done cleaning up by sundown.
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What is your drink of choice when boiling crawfish?
Beer. Cheap, domestic and kegged.
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What music do you listen to?
My Lost Bayou Ramblers Pandora station is a standard go-to for
boiling music. WWOZ works well too.
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What would you say is your typical spice level?
4 out of 5. I keep it pretty spicy.
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Sauce or no sauce?
When in Rome (or Rayne). I don’t serve or use sauce here in
NOLA, but when I go home to eat crawfish around Acadiana, I’ll
make a sauce.
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What was your biggest boil?
My Bacchus boil was pretty large last year. We did 10 sacks/400
pounds for 150 or so folks.
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Ideal boil guest - fiction or non-fiction, dead or alive?
Generally, the ideal boil guest kicks in some cash, helps with the
boiling work and peels some of the excess tails. I’ve got a solid
group of friends that always help in this regard. As far as wish list
guests go, I’d love to have had the chance to boil for my grandfather
from Lafayette because he loved to throw large parties and cook for
people. He’d have had fun at one of my boils. It’d be pretty cool to
have Justin Wilson or Jean Lafitte over for a boil too.
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Any boiling no no’s?
Don’t over-do anything. That goes for cooking time, seasoning and
booze.
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What do you do with the leftovers?
All kinds of stuff: red beans or tomato gravy with the leftover
sausage and pork, corn maque choux, creamy crawfish fettuccini
(my cousin has a killer recipe for this), mashed potatoes, crawfish
jambalaya, crawfish corn bread, salsa made with corn, pineapple
and sweet peppers… it’s hard to go wrong when you’ve got such a
delicious base of ingredients!
•
Best advice to someone boiling for the first time?
Watch your timer! There’s nothing worse than over-cooking
crawfish and turning the tails to mush.