Crawfish Creole

Boil live crawfish in salted water until shells turn bright red, approximately 5 to 8 minutes. Remove crawfish and set aside to cool slightly, then peel and reserve the tail meat, discarding the shells.

Melt margarine or butter in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add chopped onion, green pepper, and celery to the melted butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

Add paprika and ground red pepper, stirring well to combine with the vegetable mixture.

Pour in the canned tomatoes with their juice and add the bay leaf, stirring to combine all ingredients.

Add the reserved crawfish tail meat (both freshly peeled and the frozen cooked tails) to the tomato mixture and bring to a gentle simmer.

Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the flavors meld and the sauce thickens slightly.

Remove the bay leaf and taste the creole sauce, adjusting seasoning as needed with additional red pepper, salt, or paprika.

Stir in the snipped parsley just before serving.

Serve the crawfish creole over hot cooked rice, ladling the sauce generously over each portion.