Walleye
Gulf Crawfish-Shrimp Étouffée, Buttered "Geechie" Stone Ground Grits
Chef Damarr Brown of Virtue Restaurant | Chicago
Yield: 4 servings
Adapted by StarChefs | September 2021
INGREDIENTS:
Étouffée:
1 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 pint small-diced onions
1 cup small-diced green bell peppers
1 tablespoon minced Fresno pepper
1 cup small-diced celery
2 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup rough-diced Roma tomatoes
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup white wine
1½ quarts shrimp stock
Walleye:
Four 5-ounce skinless walleye fillets
½ cup tempered butter
Salt
Black pepper
Buttered Grits:
1 cup stone-ground yellow grits
4 ounces butter
Salt
Black pepper
To Assemble and Serve:
1 pint raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, about 20 pieces
1 cup crawfish tails, cooked
Lemon juice
½ cup freshly sliced scallions
METHOD:
For the Étouffée:
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and add flour, stirring frequently until the roux is a rich peanut butter color, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, heat oil in a 4-quart sauce pot. Add onions, peppers, celery, and garlic and sweat until soft. Then add tomatoes, bay leaves, Cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper and cook until tomatoes begin to break down. Add white wine and reduce to au sec. Add shrimp stock then bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir in the roux and let simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes to let the flavors meld.
For the Walleye:
Rub walleye fillets generously with tempered butter and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish on a quarter sheet tray lined with aluminum foil and cook in a 400°F oven for about 7 minutes or until medium-well.
For the Buttered Grits:
In a 2-quart sauce pot, boil 4½ cups water. Using a wooden spoon, stir in grits and continue stirring often. They will take about 25 minutes. Once they are cooked, remove from heat, stir in butter, and season with salt and pepper. Put a lid on and let sit in a warm place.
To Assemble and Serve:
Remove Étouffée from heat and stir in shrimp. Once shrimp are just about cooked, stir in crawfish to warm through. Pull Walleye out of the oven and cover with lemon juice. Spoon a bed of Buttered Grits onto 4 serving plates then top each with 1 Walleye fillet. Top Walleye with shrimp and crawfish that have been cooked in the Étouffée then a few spoonfuls of the Étouffée. Garnish with scallions.
