A classic comfort food recipe for Crawfish Étouffée, enhanced with wood-fired smoke using smoked garlic and poblano peppers. This recipe emphasizes making a proper caramel-colored roux and offers shrimp as a substitute for crawfish.
In a large heavy grill proof skillet melt butter and stir in flour. Cook and continually stir over low heat for about 20 minutes. The texture should be paste like and the color of dark caramel. Once the roux has been made - add in the celery, garlic, poblano pepper and sweet onions. Stir until coated then add in the broth, thyme, parsley, tomato paste, Cajun seasoning, Worcestershire sauce and season with salt, & pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Set aside. Preheat your grill to 250F. Move pan to the grill and smoke uncovered for 1/2 hour. Stir in crawfish tails and smoke for an additional 20-30 minutes. Add in additional broth if you want a less thick Étouffée. Serve over hot rice with a sprinkle of green onions and hot sauce.
