Crawdads anyone?

Started by bowhunter 51, June 24, 2009, 08:19:42 PM

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bowhunter 51

Our Mississippi river bottoms flood each spring, the result of snow melt
from up north and betwix the rockies & the smokies....as the flood water
recedes to side ditches, oxbow lakes & slough, we start catch'n crawdads,
(crayfish, crawfish, whatever)....easy to prepare, purge 'em in saltwater,
and/or fresh water......change the water repeatedly until they are clean
inside and out....keep 'em alive till they hit the boiling water...boil 8 to 10
minutes...I like to use creole seasoning in my boiling water....They about
like mini-lobster, eat like shrimp...caught some up today...thought I'd
share the experience...My wife says, "Ewe!"...hot sauce...good eat'n..BH51..
**********God Bless America**********
>>>>-----------Live to Hunt--------------->>
>>>>-----There is no off season--------->>

jesusgecko

That's just mean.  Not the putting in boiling water - but reminding me of the fact they exist!!!  Boy do I want some now!!!
Normality is for the weak.

22hornet

Nice eating! :food04:   And if your wife doesn't like them, so what? All the more for yourself!

Looking at that photo brings back some memories.
I used to take off for the weekend with a few mates and we would set the net for yabbies, same as your crawdads, get a whole bucket of 'em and cook them in a huge wok over the camp fire. Sit around all night eating yabbies and drinking beer and telling stories. Gee I miss it.  
"Belief:" faith in something taught, as opposed to "knowledge:" which is awareness borne of experience.

LvrLover

Now add some corn and potatoes and onions in the pot and we'll have a real feast.
"Live free or die: death is not the worst of evils." General John Stark

bowhunter 51

Yabbies, hey....Ha,ha ...ha........tis' fitting.....Yea, hornet....It's sometimes
surprizing the similarities our cultures share, dispite the distance....
Comforting, in a way.....I didn't know ya'll had " yabbies"......don't know
how widespread they are here in the states...as for the wife, well....she's
not one to even try to eat wild stuff....she's a very picky eater...........BH51..
**********God Bless America**********
>>>>-----------Live to Hunt--------------->>
>>>>-----There is no off season--------->>

M. R. Byrd

Gotta have water for crawdads, so none here in Dodge. All we have is mountain oysters.:)
Maynard Reece Byrd
Dodge City

bowhunter 51

Quote from: LvrLover;94151Now add some corn and potatoes and onions in the pot and we'll have a real feast.

Funny you should mention that, Lvr...that thought exactly crossed my
my mind, as I woop't them up...thing was, I was thinking more on
the lines of a quick snack at the time....ha, ha...yea,....I really didn't set out
to catch any crawdads...I just happened up on them, cut me a cane pole &
tied a bit of bologna on a string...took about 15 min. to catch up this small
mess...Alot of people will catch 'em up by the bucket-full, but I don't like
ta do that cause alot  die before ya get'em home, and they cook-up
mushy like that...I don't care for mushy....I like 'em firm.......................BH51..
**********God Bless America**********
>>>>-----------Live to Hunt--------------->>
>>>>-----There is no off season--------->>

bowhunter 51

Quote from: M. R. Byrd;94153Gotta have water for crawdads, so none here in Dodge. All we have is mountain oysters.:)

:MOGRIN:  ha, ha, ha, ....ha...mountain oysters....I feel ya............BH51...
**********God Bless America**********
>>>>-----------Live to Hunt--------------->>
>>>>-----There is no off season--------->>

jesusgecko

How big do your "crawdad" get?  Apparently there is one area not too far away where koura (our version) get to about 12 - 14 inches!!!  Anywhere else though they are MUCH smaller.
 
Toyed with the idea of putting the tails in a cheese sauce,  then chucking in a pie I have to say.  Works a treat on prawns,  so why wouldn't it work on the next step up?
Normality is for the weak.

rockinbbar

jg,

I've seen & eaten crawdads that big before. They were in Mexico, and we used to have them for a meal at our bass lodge down there.

When they get that size, they are excellent split right down the middle then grilled over an open fire & served with drawn butter, like lobster.

Mmmmm..>>I could use some now! :D

Barry
Remind yourself often to SEE not just "look".

22hornet

Quote from: rockinbbar;94166jg,
 
 
When they get that size, they are excellent split right down the middle then grilled over an open fire & served with drawn butter, like lobster.
 

Yep, cooked with garlic butter or even sweet chilli sauce!
"Belief:" faith in something taught, as opposed to "knowledge:" which is awareness borne of experience.

gitano

You guys are killin' me!
 
Crawdads - precooked and frozen - are $8/lb up here. I was in such a state once, I bought some. Tasted like wet cardboard.
 
I love fresh crawdads. When I was a kid, I'd go down to the nearest ditch with a stick, a string, some bacon, and a small landing net. I could get them to hold on to the bacon if I didn't pull them above the surface of the water. I'd raise them to just under the water's surface, slip the landing net under them, lift them out of hte water, and they'd drop into the net. When I had as many as I could catch outta that ditch, I take em' home and feast.
 
Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

LvrLover

Thats about how we did it here as kids too, Paul.
"Live free or die: death is not the worst of evils." General John Stark

Antler3

Yum yum !!  Our annual "Crawdad Days" (Fesitval) happens in May each year.  Carnival, car show, crafts, live bands  and always the crawdad dinners. Boiled with potatoes and corn on the cobb ! Yessiree ! Can't beat them crawpappies !
ANTLER 3

drinksgin (deceased)

#14
One at a time on a string, 20-30 at a time with a piece of board tied across a rake, buckets full at a time with a 20' minnow seine or dozens at a time in traps, broiled, boiled, peeled, mealed and fried or served cold in a salad:D!
Likely the 12-14 " ones Barry was talking about in Mexico are the same as or close to the spinney prawn and Rio Grande shrimp which was common in the rivers that drain into the gulf, backwater dams close to the mouths of the rivers cut off their spawning areas and removed most of them.
The irrigation canals in South Texas still have a lot and the river below Falcon lake has some.
I have caught some of the prawns that had a body and head 12" long with 10-12" long skinny claws.
I have caught the shrimp up to 16" with 20 " skinny claws, it weighed almost 2 lb.
Texas Parks and Wildlife report the shrimp getting up to 5 lb. in captivity.
The prawn and shrimp both have a head longer than the tail, whereas real shrimp have the head shorter than the tail.
Last month I bought a book from A&M press that is about Texas crawfish, lists and shows photos of 42 species.
Maynard, I understand all the states except Alaska have crawfish, put a trap in a creek, lake or even stock tank and you may be very surprised at what you catch.
Some species of crawfish are resident in dry lands, live in holes and depend on rain for water.
Many places when the borrow ditches dry up, the bottom is covered in miniature castles where the crawfish have deepened their holes while waiting for a rain.
This is crawfish season a 30lb sack is $1.25 a pound and up, depending where you buy it.
NRA life, TSRA life, SAF life, GOA, CCRKBA, DEF -CON

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