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Welcome to Thyme Flies, a place to find southern, and Cajun and Creole recipes as well as plain old home cooking.
It's also a place to spend a little thyme.
Big Billy's Crawfish Fritters with Texas Dipping Sauce
My close friend Big Billy was both an oil
entrepreneur and a Dallas restauranteur. He was such an interesting character, I could write a book about him. Come to think
of it, maybe I will some day.
I once sold him an oil deal in Noble County, Oklahoma. It was a reentry—going into a previously drilled well in
hopes of completing in a productive zone the original operator missed. We were unsuccessful in the predicted pay zone but
came up roses in a shallow limestone. The well tested nine hundred MCFD (pretty damn good for a six hundred foot well) and
Big Billy ultimately drilled ten offsets.
Big Billy, like his name, was a big man—six foot four and three hundred seventy five pounds. He had
the mentality of a wildcatter along with the wildly crazy luck that made him successful. He had absolutely no pretense, but
could cook some of the tastiest meals imaginable. He also liked Texas music and he, Kathy—his significant other—
and I once made a special trip to see Willis Alan Ramsey at the Blue Door in Oklahoma City. But that’s another story.
Yes, Louisiana is the land
of Acadia, but there are probably just as many Cajuns living in Texas. Big Billy borrowed a few secrets from his Louisiana
neighbors in creating this dish that I guarantee is to die for. Although no longer with us, his legend and recipes will live
forever.
Big Billy’s
Crawfish Fritters with Texas Dipping Sauce
Ingredients ·1 cup flour, sifted ·1 pound crawfish tails, cooked and chopped ·4 green onions, chopped ·½ tsp. salt ·½ tsp. cayenne pepper ·1 tsp. baking powder ·2 eggs ·½ cup milk ·1 ½ tbsp.
melted butter
Texas
Dipping Sauce ·¾ cup mayonnaise ·¼ lemon, sliced ·½ cup ketchup ·¼ tsp. horseradish,
prepared ·¼ tsp. Texas hot sauce
Directions Combine eggs, crawfish meat, onions, butter, salt and Cayenne in a large mixing bowl. Stir in flour until
blended. Heat cooking oil in a large cast iron skillet until very hot. Drop tablespoonfuls of batter— a few
at a time—into hot oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.In a small
bowl, combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish, squeezed lemon juice and Texas hot sauce. Serve fritters with Texas dipping
sauce.
I grew up eating my Mother's home cooking. I didn't know that we were poor, but we were - moneywise, that is.
We never missed a meal, and, as I look back, I now see that everyone was a culinary masterpiece. That's what we're after
here - the realization that simpler is sometimes (if not always) best.
Please check out Eric Wilder's book Murder Etouffee for the best Cajun and Creole recipes, and so much more!
