Crawfish pie

Cold, Hard Football Facts for Jan 16, 2007

The 225 Club digs crawfish pie, if only because our musical muse Hank Williams sang about it in his classic country hit, "Jambalaya." You know you've heard it:

"Jambalaya, crawfish pie, filé gumbo..."

"Son of a gun we'll have great fun on the bayou."

And, well, if that's not good enough for you, Hank Williams is the father of the guy who sings the "Are You Ready for Some Football" song before every Monday Night Football game – that's right, Hank Williams Jr., motherf**ker.

Go figure.

In any case, this crawfish pie recipe comes to us from our friends at Louisiana Cookin' magazine, who grabbed it from the folks at Ma's Meat Pies in Natchez, Louisiana. You can order 'em online if making 'em seems too tough.

Here's what you need to do:

make the filling
make the pastry circles (little two-crust pies) according to the directions below so you can have little pies
decide if you want to bake or fry the pies. If you fry (the preferred method), you must heat deep-frying oil in a large pan to 325 degrees; if you bake, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Now, get moving.

Crawfish pie filling

4 Tablespoons butter
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 green onions (scallions), finely chopped
1/3 pound Velveeta cheese
1/4 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pound cooked crawfish tails, preferably with fat
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
Salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning, to taste
Pastry Circles (see below)

Heat butter in a large skillet. Add bell pepper, onion and green onion and cook until soft, approximately 5 minutes. Add Velveeta and cream of mushroom soup and cook a few minutes until cheese is thoroughly melted and ingredients are well combined. Add the rice and seasonings, mixing thoroughly. Add crawfish and mix thoroughly, then allow to cool. While cooking, make your pastry circles.

When filling is thoroughly cooled, fill pastry circles half-full with crawfish mixture (about 1/4 cup per pastry). Moisten edges of pastry by wetting finger and running it on edge. Fold pastry in half over dough and crimp with tines of a fork to seal. Fry in small batches in 325-degree oil for 3 minutes, turning once so pie is golden-brown on each side. Drain on paper towels and serve.

If you prefer baked pie rather than fried, preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Pastry circles

4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, melted (Do not substitute oil for shortening in the pastry or it will fall apart)
2 eggs
Milk as needed, approximately 1/2 cup

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add melted shortening and combine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add beaten egg and enough milk so that a stiff dough is formed when kneaded. Divide dough into four sections. Working with one section at a time on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll dough as thin as possible but still holds together. Use a standard coffee cup saucer to cut dough into circles.

Makes 12 pies.

By Kerry Byrne

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