55 Freshwater Crayfish Paupiettes with Thyme

Name: Freshwater Crayfish Paupiettes with Thyme
Yield: For four people
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 75 g (2½ oz) softened butter; 1 bass fillet weighing 500 g (1 lb 2 oz), skinned and boned by the fishmonger; 200 ml (⅓ pint) dry white wine; 2 deseeded tomatoes, cut in quarters; 1 teaspoon tomato purée; 4 heaped tablespoons cooked tomato pulp; 1 small sprig of thyme; ½ teaspoon fresh tarragon, chopped; 500 ml (scant pint) water and 2 teaspoons coarse salt; 750 g (1 lb 10½ oz) live freshwater crayfish or about 20 Dublin Bay prawns; 1 shallot; 1 small bouquet garni; ½ carrot; ¼ onion peeled and cut in tiny mirepoix dice; salt and pepper; a pinch of cayenne; 1 unpeeled, crushed clove of garlic; 1½ tablespoons armagnac; 24 fine green leaves from the outside of Brussels sprouts; 2 tablespoons port

Preparation info

For
four
people

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Cuisine Gourmande

By Michel Guérard

Published 1978

About

Paupiettes d’écrevisses au thym et aux choux de Bruxelles ‘Little parcels of shellfish redolent of river and garden’

Ingredients

Main ingredients

750 g (1 lb 10½ oz) live freshwater crayfish or about 2

Europe
France
Fish course
Pescatarian
Mediterranean
Gluten-free

Method

Cooking the crayfish

Heat the oil in the sauté pan. Throw in the crayfish or Dublin Bay prawns and let them fry and colour, covered, for 6 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and remove the crayfish with a slotted spoon. Put them on a plate. Remove and shell the tails and keep them until needed.