This isn't a true etouffee like the shrimp or crawfish you'll see at a restaurant. Which is probably why I and my family like it so much.
Ingredients
- all-purpose flour: 2 cups
- salt: 1 Tbsp
- ground black pepper: 1 Tbsp
- ground cayenne pepper: 1 tsp
- butter: 0.25 cup
- extra-virgin olive oil: 1 Tbsp
- skinless, boneless chicken breast halves: 1 pack (16 ounce pack, cubed)
- green bell pepper: 1 piece (chopped)
- onion: 1 piece (chopped)
- stalks celery: 3 piece (chopped, to taste)
- clove garlic: 1 piece (minced)
- butter: 2 Tbsp (to taste)
- water, or as needed to cover: 1 cup
- bay leaves: 4 piece
- rice: 3 cups (cooked)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Whisk flour, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl.
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Heat 1/4 cup butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Dredge chicken cubes in seasoned flour and fry in the hot butter and oil until golden brown and no longer pink inside, about 10 minutes. Remove chicken, leaving butter mixture in skillet. Reduce heat to low.
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Stir 1 tablespoon leftover seasoned flour into pan drippings in skillet; cook and stir until the mixture forms a paste and cooks to the color of dark caramel, 10 to 15 minutes. Watch carefully and stir constantly to avoid burning. Add bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic, and 2 more tablespoons butter to flour paste and toss to coat vegetables with butter and browned flour mixture. Cook and stir until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
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Pour in enough water to cover vegetables, add bay leaves, and bring to a simmer. Return chicken to skillet and cook until flavors are blended, about 10 more minutes. Serve with cooked rice.
