Mudbugs

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Thanks. I think they came out pretty good, and the veggies were done just right, too.

They were good but... I won't be cooking them again. Too much work for too little return. The tips of my thumbs are still sore. Give me a clambake anyday over a crawfish boil.
You've got these nice big bodies and these little tails... with a very hard shell... Quite a bit different than peal and eat shrimp. I was getting good at it, but it's still a little work and they cooled off quickly.
No muddy taste that I noticed, but I also sprinkled cajun seasoning on them, as you can see. There was a marine kind of smell, which I didn't expect. That did not seem to affect the taste though. They didn't taste fishy.
And I've got a lot left over. One of the vids I saw said to figure 5-6 lbs/person. And I'm a big eater, but the amount left over from the first batch even told me that I was getting bored eating them. I found myself gravitating towards the other stuff, the sausage and veggies.

So, I'm glad I made them. I would eat them at a party. I would not place an order for 10 lbs again, lol.

And no, none for my hens. Surprisingly, one of my dogs stayed outside with me while I was eating and even she didn't eat one... and she LOVES shrimp... I found that odd.

It's like eating blue crab, comes with a self pacing system. All that work makes you thirsty, which allows you to drink more beer!;)

Craig
 
I'm really lucky to be living in New Orleans where I can buy a bag of cooked, frozen, shelled crawfish tails for about $5.

I can deal will shelling shrimp if I have to, but mudbug shells are hard.
 
Zhizara said:
I'm really lucky to be living in New Orleans where I can buy a bag of cooked, frozen, shelled crawfish tails for about $5.
d.
Oh, just stop it! (jealous). Along with all the other fantastic dishes!
 
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They make good Gumbo!
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Crawdads now we're speaking my language!
Sure you can do a bajillion different things with them, but for me and all the ways I've had them, you still can't beat the traditional boiled.
But they are so good fried too. I mean, really really really good.
You can make a mean sauce with crawdads.
Eggs Benedict with crawdad hollandaise, oh man.
I'll take crawdads any time, anywhere.
I'm like Bubba from Forest Gump with crawdads.
I've developed a system for peeling them that is perfect. It cannot be better I promise. The idea is that being arthropods (segmented bodies) we can take advantage of them being in sections. I will do my best to explain it. These directions are for right-handed folks.
First separate the thorax from the abdomen (body from tail) by pinching at the base of the thorax right before the abdomen with the left index finger and thumb. Using your right hand, twist the abdomen away from the thorax and suck the liquid from the thorax. This is the best part.
Then at the other end what you do is pinch the tail at the point where it fans out, like at the very tip of the abdomen. This is where the meat attaches to the tail, very much like the tail of a shrimp (If you've ever gotten shrimp at a restaurant with the tail attached and had to remove it, this is the same principle). Twist the very tip of the tail off. Now the meat inside the tail is free, you just have to pull the shell off which is very easy: At the end that connected to the thorax, you can peel off a section or two in an unwrapping-like motion. You shouldn't need to remove more than a section or two before the meat can easily be pulled out. Sometimes this step isn't necessary, depending on how much meat is in the tail. It will easily come out after that. I can go through huge numbers of crawdads in no time, as it takes about 10 seconds per crawdad to do this with no waste.
 
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Nice method with twisting the tail fin off. I'll remember this for next time.
 
suck the liquid from the thorax. This is the best part.

I lay the head aside for a few seconds while I get the tail meat out and then pop the tail meat in my mouth and suck the juices from the head. Those juices are full of seasoning and natural flavors that will triple the amount of flavor in the bite of meat.:chef:

That's one of the best crawdad eating instructions I've ever read, No Mayo. I love them too. I've even thought about building my own tanks for raising them. Imagine a never ending supply of them right in your own live tank.:pig::pig::pig:
 
I built a couple crawfish traps using hardware cloth (I think 1/4") and have used them a few times to catch them myself.
 
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