Nothing says Louisiana like seafood on the table

As the days cool and grow shorter, the local taste turns to local seafood – not that it ever strays far.
Here are some of the recipes we’ve collected over the years for the annual Shrimp & Petroleum Festival edition. We’ll come back next week with some shrimp. fin fish and oyster recipes.
Louisiana
crab cakes
1 lb. crabmeat, well picked over
½ cup red pepper, finely chopped
¼ cup onion, finely chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ tsp. hot sauce
1 cup crackers, finely crushed, divided
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
½ cup Ranch dressing
¼ cup oil
Mix crabmeat, red pepper, onion, eggs, pepper sauce and ½ cup of the cracker crumbs. Cover. Refrigerate one hour or until firm.
Meanwhile, mix mustard and dressing; cover. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Shape crab mixture into 10 one-inch patties; coat with remaining cracker crumbs.
Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add crab cakes, in batches; cook three to five minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels. Serve warm with the mustard mixture.
Stuffed crabs
2 cups crabmeat
1 onion, minced
1 bell pepper, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup bread crumbs, plus extra for topping
1 stick margarine
¼ cup water
Juice of half a lemon
1 Tbsp. parsley, minced
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Dash of hot sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
Brown onions, bell pepper and garlic in margarine.
Add crabmeat, bread crumbs, water and lemon juice. Cook over low heat 20 minutes.
Add parsley, sauces and seasoning.
Place mixture in prepared crab shells.
Sprinkle tops with bread crumbs, dot with butter and brown in 450-degree oven.
Makes 8.
Seafood gumbo
3 lbs. shrimp
1½ pint oysters
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 can whole tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
2 large onions, chopped
1½ cups flour
1 cup shortening
2 quarts water
½ cup green onions, chopped
¼ cup parsley, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (10 oz.) boxes frozen okra
1 lb. crabmeat
Salt, pepper and hot sauce, to taste
Make roux in heavy skillet by stirring flour and shortening until well browned. Transfer to deep gumbo pot.
Add water, tomatoes, and tomato sauce; cook five minutes.
Add celery, bell pepper, okra, onion and garlic; cook 10 minutes.
Add parsley, onions, shrimp, oysters and crabmeat. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot sauce.
Cook 30 minutes. If too thick, add more water.
Serves 10.
Crawfish bisque
Stuffing for crawfish:
1 lb. crawfish, ground
1½ cups bread crumbs
¼ cup green onion, minced
¼ cup parsley, minced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
Salt, black pepper, red pepper, to taste
2 eggs
50 clean crawfish backs
Stew:
1 can tomato paste
Oil
½ onion, finely chopped
½ clove garlic, minced
Salt, black pepper, red pepper
2 tsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. prepared roux
Water
For stuffing, mix crawfish, bread crumbs and chopped vegetables. Add two eggs and blend into mixture.
Stuff the crawfish backs with mixture. Have them ready before starting the stew.
For stew, sauté onion and garlic in a little oil. Add tomato paste and cook until dark.
Add seasonings and sugar. Cook a few minutes.
Add roux and a cup of water. Cook until dissolved, stirring often.
Sauté stuffed crawfish in a little oil and add to the stew as they are browned.
Add more water to cover stew and crawfish backs. Bring to boil.
Reduce to low temperature, cover and cook slowly two hours.
Serve with rice.
Crawfish stew
3 cups crawfish tails, saving fat
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato paste
Green onions
Parsley
Salt, black pepper and red pepper
Cooking oil
Cornstarch
Wash crawfish thoroughly. Boil a few minutes.
Pour enough cooking oil into heavy pot to cover onions, bell pepper, garlic and celery. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are golden brown.
Add tomato paste and cook uncovered, stirring constantly. Add crawfish tails and crawfish fat.
Add seasoning to taste and a little water and cornstarch to thicken, if necessary.
Continue to cook over medium heat about 15 minutes.
Add chopped green onions and parsley; cook a few minutes longer.