Mudbugs

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pacanis

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The countdown starts.

Crayfish to me as a child, lifting rocks in the creek and catching them for no purpose other than to say I did, keeping them for a few days and then walking them back down to the creek and dumping them back in. Later I learned they were also called crawfish. Probably a dialect thing :angel: And later yet... mudbugs. Mudbugs? Yes, mudbugs...:ermm: No matter, those bugs got some nice tail! And they look just like miniature lobsters!!! :chef:

So being foodies we all like to try a new recipe that catches our eye. And we all like to try new food... within reason. You know me and weird veggies ;) And a new dining experience usually leaves a lasting impression. So the countdown begins until Wednesday when I can tie all of these things together.

I just placed an order for 10 lbs of mudbugs! :)

Armed with a couple TV shows under my belt, along with some youtube vids, most of with are pathetic, the supplier's website instructions, and anything offered in this thread... hint, hint, hint, Wednesday you all know what I'll be having for dinner.
 
Apparently, they are edible anywhere. Some years ago, a friend complained they were digging up her backyard. She had hundreds. I looked online, and found out she could cook and eat them, here on the banks of the Missisip! Who knew? I doubt that she did, though.

Not sure if they would be the same as those homegrown in Naw'lins. We always called them crawdads or crayfish.
 
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I've boiled them and eaten the tail before, like one or two we ran across when froggin' back when I camped. I'm really looking forward to doing a whole feast of them.
 
In southern Louisiana they used to be popular bar food right along side peanuts and pretzels. A cold beer and a handful of crawdads... Ummm... :rolleyes: And don't forget to suck on the heads, the tastiest part!
 
pac, this may sound weird but when you get tired of eating them plainly boiled, try this. peel the tails, then toss with some scallions and a good hot sauce into fettucini alfredo. oh baby it's good stuff.

oh yeah, and any bad ones are great bait for big bass.
 
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Thanks for the idea Bucky. I'm sure I'll have some left over. They are supposed to freeze well after they have been cooked.

Yes, they ship live Bea.
 
Thanks for the idea Bucky. I'm sure I'll have some left over. They are supposed to freeze well after they have been cooked.

Yes, they ship live Bea.

Make sure you clean all the fat off the tails before you freeze. It will go rancid even in the freezer. Speaking from experience.

Craig
 
Make sure you clean all the fat off the tails before you freeze. It will go rancid even in the freezer. Speaking from experience.

Craig

I thought I had read something like that somewhere... this place says you can freeze them whole though, as long as they are cooked first. You can even buy them precooked and frozen whole...
I think I'll heed your advice and clean the meat from the tail and just freeze the meat. It seems to make more sense.
 
I don't know where you are getting the mudbugs from? My understanding is the season is over in LA. Personally, I try to get wild caught, as my experience with pond raised has been the pits.

Craig
 
I don't know where you are getting the mudbugs from?

From here Craig

I've just spent too much time on youtube, including an AB episode, and I'm gonna need a bigger pot. The turkey fryer I borrowed looks too tall and skinny, and the basket is way to small... I'm hoping the town hardware store has one, but wally world isn't far away either. I'll still be able to use the burner setup though.

It looks like the big discrepancy is how to add the veggies and sausage.
Where I'm getting them from says to cook the other items after the soak. To put the crawfish into a cooler to "Steam" while cooking the rest. And I did find one vid that did them that way, but I'm leaning towards doing everything like a clambake, with the crawfish going in last. By this time tomorrow I hope to be purging them :chef:
 
I thought so too, Dawg.
Sure, they might be cheap if you lived down there, but six something a lb delivered overnight seems VERY reasonable. Nice price on the head-on shrimp, too.
 
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pacanis said:
I thought so too, Dawg.
Sure, they might be cheap if you lived down there, but six something a lb delivered overnight seems VERY reasonable. Nice price on the head-on shrimp, too.

Hmm. Didn't see the head-on shrimp.

Revisiting site...
 
Apparently, they are edible anywhere. Some years ago, a friend complained they were digging up her backyard. She had hundreds. I looked online, and found out she could cook and eat them, here on the banks of the Missisip! Who knew? I doubt that she did, though.

Not sure if they would be the same as those homegrown in Naw'lins. We always called them crawdads or crayfish.

They're the same, Dawgluver. Different regional names. But in New Orleans they are out of season. When I asked for some in late June some years ago, I was told the season had just ended and any they could find for me would be frozen. (not the same thing, imho)
 
Funny story about mudbugs...

Back in the dark ages when I was a Brownie Scout and went to summer daycamp, we caught some in the local pond and staged a race with them. Painted lines on a picnic table to make lanes, and everything. One of them decided to race backwards.

(How do I remember irrelevant cr*p like that? :rolleyes:)
 
ChefJune said:
Funny story about mudbugs...

Back in the dark ages when I was a Brownie Scout and went to summer daycamp, we caught some in the local pond and staged a race with them. Painted lines on a picnic table to make lanes, and everything. One of them decided to race backwards.

(How do I remember irrelevant cr*p like that? :rolleyes:)

Lol. Probably because it was fun. When I was a kid we lived in navy housing in SoCal for a while. Some of my fellow navy brats asked me to join their circus. On the list of performers was the "ferocious crawdad tamer!" Our first show he got pinched on the finger hard enough to break the skin. One of the little girls in our "audience" passed out when she saw the blood and we got told by the collective parents no more crawdad taming. They let him go back to it when they saw that his alternative act involved letting lizards bite his tounge.

Crayfish are on my list of critters I still need to try.
 
I've use that same company twice this yr and twice last yr, they are great!!! I really like their seasoning, but it takes a bit more than what they advise. Keep it simple, don't over think it, and don't add taters until the end(starch crap all over bugs if over cooked taters).

Put the bag seasoning in, don't save any for the layering in the coooler(just gets on your hands and not worth it). If you want seasoning on them use that can of stuff, it's like Tony C's or Slap Yo Mama.

MUST cook the day of, I had to wait one day for mine and had more dead than usual.:mad:

MUST suck the head, sounds bad but that is where the flavor is. Same with the claws, pull the "thumb" out and suck the juice. Eat the claws if they are big enough, usually not worth the effort.

Leftovers are great, must clean(pull tail meat) and save the bodies. YOU WILL MAKE GUMBO/ETOUFFEE/BISQUE with leftovers. Use the bodies for stock and crawfish meatballs stuffed into the bodies is cool.

Follow their directions, they are really pretty good(for the first time). Start plan'n your boil for next spring!

Use your finger to get the "fat" out of the bodies, if needed. Add plenty of garlic, just cut the head in half. Use plenty of lemons. Toss in some cabbage before you toss out the "stock" from the boil, good stuff. You can also boil eggs, that spice adds great flavor to them. Broccoli is great in the boil, soaks up alot of spice.


HAVE FUN AND EAT TILL YA PUKE!!!;):LOL:
 
I'm gonna need more beer ;)
 

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