Lousiana Lightning Crawfish Cornbread Dressing

Crawfish Stock

1. Peel and devein the boiled crawfish, separating and reserving the heads, shells, and tail meat.
2. Put the tail meat aside.
3. In a large pot, add cold water, all the crawfish heads and shells, and the rest of ingredients.
4. Crank the heat to high and bring the liquid in the pot up to a hard boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium and keep at a low boil, uncovered, for 3 hours.
6. Afterwards, strain the stock through a fine mesh colander to remove the shells. But don’t skim it. All that fat and protein on top helps give this stock its super-concentrated crawfish flavor.

Dressing

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. In a large Dutch oven or pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat.
3. Add the onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. After 10 minutes, the trinity should start to brown a little bit—this is intentional; you want it more than just translucent, you want it thoroughly softened and beginning to brown. 
5. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute.
6. Stir in the crawfish, salt, black pepper, and cayenne.
7. Add the stock. While still over medium heat, slowly bring the mixture to a low simmer then remove from the heat.
8. Add the remaining1 tablespoon butter and stir until it’s fully melted.
9. Once the butter has melted, gently fold in the crumbled cornbread until it’s well incorporated, being careful not to smush it all to bits.
10. Scoop the mixture into a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish and spread out evenly.
11. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are browned.