Serves 12

3 slices white bread

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered

1 small bell pepper, quartered

1 rib celery, trimmed and sliced

½ cup fresh parsley

2 pounds crawfish tails, peeled

2 eggs

1 teaspoon sat

½ teaspoon cayenne powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

Oil for frying

• Break up bread slices and place in a food processor. Pulse until bread forms soft crumbs. Set aside. Place onion, bell pepper, celery, and parsley in food processor. Pulse until finely chopped and place in a large bowl.

• Working in 2 batches, put drained crawfish tails in the food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Put crawfish in the bowl with onion mixture.

• Add eggs, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder to the crawfish. Mix with hands until well combined. Add soft bread crumbs a handful at a time, mixing after each addition. Use only enough bread crumbs to get a firm mixture that will hold together when rolled.

• Roll mixture into small balls. Coat each ball lightly with flour.

• Pour oil into a skillet or Dutch oven to a depth of 2 inches. Heat oil until hot but not smoking. Fry crawfish balls, turning often, until brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve warm.

Crawfish on the Menu

In South Louisiana, crawfish seasons come in the spring and fall. During those months, these freshwater lobster cousins turn up in everything from appetizers and soups to entrées and vegetable blends. It takes 6–8 pounds of whole crawfish to make one pound of peeled crawfish tails.