Authentic Crawfish Etouffee

Etouffee means "smothered." Everyone in the world has crawfish. Some parts just don't know what to do with them. In Louisiana, they're raised in rice fields. Sure, you can get them from ditches, but who wants to eat crawfish from a ditch? For those of you who can't purchase crawfish in your city, here's a link to where you can order them : http://www.lacrawfish.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=LCTM

• Ready In: 25 mins
• Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 8  tablespoons butter (1 stick)
• 1  large yellow onion, diced
• 1  large green pepper, diced
• 2  stalks celery, diced
•  fresh garlic, minced (to your taste...personally, I can never get enough garlic)
• 1  lb crawfish tail, with fat
•  salt
•  cayenne
•  black pepper
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 2  tablespoons cornstarch
•  chopped fresh parsley
•  cooked rice

Directions

1. In heavy saucepan, melt butter.
2. Add onions, green pepper, and celery.
3. Saute until onions are transparent.
4. Add crawfish, minced garlic, salt and pepper.
5. Dissolve cornstarch in cold water.
6. Add to crawfish mixture.
7. Heat, stirring well, until thickened (which doesn't take long).
8. Serve over hot, cooked rice, and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.
9. *Note*: Crawfish tails are already cooked in the package. All you're really doing is heating them up. Don't over-cook them, or they'll be tough.
10. Bon Appetite! :).