Colorado Lobster

[CON8IV]

A couple weeks ago, two friends of mine and I did a dive at a local lake. I had been told it held big crawfish by the hundreds. So, we get to the lake, gear up and do a surface swim about 300 yards out. We descend and find great vis. of about 12 feet, Ok, great for a Colorado lake, anyway at 30' or so. Then we see them. HUGE crawdads everywhere. They were as big as some small lobster I have seen. So, we start getting picky and only grabbing the ones with claws over 2" or so. As a kid I never caught any this big. With thin reef gloves on, they can PINCH! I ended up with a bloody finger and thumb, but I guess they needed a little payback for the huge pot of gumbo we ate later.

So, my question is this: How do some of you fix & eat them. Not being from "down South" I just can't bring myself to suck the insides out of the head. Can you de-vein them before boiling the tail? This was such a blast I plan on doing it once or twice a year and having a big shin-dig afterwards with several recipes, but only know how to make gumbo.

After we surfaced, my friends told me they heard me laughing in my regulator several times. What a blast!

 

[MichaelBaranows]

These website should be able to help you. Make sure that are alive until you put them in the water.

http://www.zatarain.com/neworleanscooking/seafoodboils/howto.php

http://generalhorticulture.tamu.edu/prof/Recipes/CrawBoil/crawboil.html

http://www.gumbopages.com/food/seafood/craw-boil.html

 

[Rick Murchison]

Most folks overcook crawdads & shrimp.
My method is... bring the water to a rolling boil, dump in the crawdads or shrimp, bring it back to a boil, drain and eat.
Rick

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Zatarans w/corn and baby potatoes and sausage... *drool*

 

[CON8IV]

Thanks for the links Michael. And, I agree Rick, most people over cook seafood in general. You guys were all a big help. I'm getting hungry!

 

[riddler]

A couple weeks ago, two friends of mine and I did a dive at a local lake. I had been told it held big crawfish by the hundreds.

LOL! :lol2: I only go to the lakes here when I have to teach - otherwise I hate the cold and lack of vis. But I have certainly seen some HUGE crawdads down there. My brother would love them - he used to fish crawdads out of the little streams around here when we were kids.

Funny thing - when I dive in the Carribean and see lobster, I start drooling in my reg and fantasizing about melted butter. :eat: But when I see those crawdads, crawling around in the filth at the bottom of the lake - it kinda turns my stomach :yuck:

 

[putawaywet]

Crawdad's a mud animal. You gotta 'purge' em'. Let em' kick around in clean water (preferably non chlorinated) for a bit. Then put them directly in your boiling water with lots of seasoning.
Just eat the tails if you want but you're missing out on some flavor.
Some of the best meat on the planet.

 

[flyhigh123]

lets see some pics... curious on how a big one looks like!

 

[MR_G]

I was with Jay when we grabbed those Lobsters and took some pictures. Check out this link to see the size of some of those monsters:

http://www.summit-fever.com/crawdad/viewpix.cgi

 

[Buckeyediver]

Since my folks moved down to Hammond LA (about 45 mins n of New Orleans) I've visited and had several boils.

The best way to "purge" bugs is to put them in a bucket of clean water, then add a bunch of Mortons Salt, and that water turns brown faster than you can say "brown water."

Trust me it works like a gem every time and it just feels better eating them after you see how nasty that water turns! It's an instant brown!

Each batch of bugs you add more seasoning to the boil so by they 3rd boil, those suckers are HOT HOT HOT! But those potato's, corn, and sausage make the meal. I could eat those things all day, of course with a frosty cold beverage!