SOUPS

• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup flour
• 4 large onions, finely chopped
• 6 large ribs celery, finely chopped
• 2 medium bell peppers, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 3 quarts water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound crawfish tails, cooked
• Crawfish fat
• 2/3 cup chopped green onions
• 6 Tablespoons chopped parsley
• Stuffed crawfish heads (recipe follows)

Make a dark brown roux with oil and flour. Remove 3 Tablespoons of roux and set aside for stuffed heads. In a large pot, place remaining roux; add onions, celery, and bell peppers; cook until transparent. Add water, bay leaf, lemon, salt and pepper. Simmer for approximately 3 1/2 hours. Add crawfish tails, stuffed heads, fat and green onions. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add parsley just before serving as a gumbo over cooked rice.

Stuffed Crawfish Heads

• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 2 bell peppers, finely chopped
• 3 ribs celery, finely chopped
• 3 pounds crawfish tails, cooked, finely chopped
• 3 Tablespoons roux (reserved from Bisque)
• Crawfish fat to taste
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 3 slices stale bread, crumbled
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 75-100 cleaned crawfish heads
• Flour and oil

While the Bisque is simmering, prepare heads. Cook onions, bell peppers, and celery in roux until transparent. Add crawfish fat, tails, and green onions. Cook 15 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. Add parsley, eggs, bread crumbs; mix thoroughly. Cool and stuff heads of crawfish with this dressing. Roll stuffed heads in flour, and fry in oil until golden brown. Add to the Bisque.

This delicious, thick soup spicily seasoned and full of heads stuffed with the dressing, all over steaming rice, is a "must" in Bayou Country during crawfish season!