Issue Date: July, 2011
Serves: Makes 15 pieces
Pairings:
Courtesy of: Chef Nathan Gresham, Beausoleil, Baton Rouge

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 1/2 cups warm chicken stock
• 2 1/2 cups warm Louisiana shrimp stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound Louisiana crawfish tails with fat, roughly chopped
• Creole seasoning to taste
• 1 1/3 cups (11 ounces) soft goat cheese (chèvre)
• oil for frying
• 4 cups Panko breadcrumbs, ground
• Andouille Aioli (recipe follows)

Instructions:

Melt butter in a large sauté pan set over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add rice and sauté until opaque, about 4 minutes. Deglaze pan with white wine and stir. Mix stocks together, and add one ladle full at a time, cooking until liquid is absorbed before adding more, stirring constantly. When all liquid has been absorbed, season with salt and pepper.

Add crawfish tails and Creole seasoning. Remove from heat. Add goat cheese and mix thoroughly. Cool.

Heat oil to 350°F. Place a small amount of risotto into your hand and roll into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in ground Panko and place on a tray. Drop into oil and cook until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Serve with Andouille Aioli.

Andouille Aioli:
Makes 2 1/2 Cups

• 1/2 pound andouille sausage, chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 whole egg
• 2 cups grapeseed oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 250°F. Add sausage to a pan set over medium-high heat and render until crispy but not burned. Drain off fat and discard. Place andouille in a food processor and grind until fine. Place on a sheet tray and bake in oven until completely dried out, about 15 minutes. Set aside.

Place garlic and eggs in food processor and with machine running slowly drizzle in the oil to emulsify. Drizzle in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Add half the dried Andouille and blend. Reserve the rest of the dried Andouille powder to sprinkle atop fritters.