Best 5 Louisiana Turtle Stew Recipes

CREOLE TURTLE SOUP

Steps:

• Start by making the turtle stock. Put the turtle meat into a large pot and cover with 8 cups of water. Add the bay leaves and about a tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil and skim the scum that floats to the top. Drop the heat to a bare simmer and cook until the turtle meat wants to fall off the bone, about 2 to 3 hours.
• Remove the meat from the pot and pull it off the bones. Chop as coarse or as fine as you want. Strain the turtle broth and put it into a pot set over low heat to keep warm.
• In a Dutch oven or other soup pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat and stir in the flour. Cook this, stirring almost constantly, to make a roux the color of peanut butter, which will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Add the green pepper, celery and onion and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the chopped turtle meat and stir to combine.
• Stir in a cup of the turtle stock at a time until you the soup is the consistency of gravy. Add the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne and paprika. Add more turtle broth until the soup thins a bit. It should be thicker than water, thinner than gravy -- like chicken and dumplings if you are familiar with that. Simmer gently for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
• Finish the soup with the sherry, parsley, lemon zest and hard-boiled eggs. Add them all, stir to combine and simmer for a minute or two. Add salt, black pepper and lemon juice to taste. Serve alone or with rice.

TURTLE STEW

Steps:

• Dredge the turtle in flour. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepot over high heat, melt the butter and brown the turtle pieces, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the turtle from pan and allow to cool enough to handle. Deglaze the pan with red wine, scraping the bits from the bottom and sides.
• Add the celery, onion, carrots to the pot. Stir in the beef stock, 1/2 cup water, and Worcestershire and continue to cook over medium-high heat. In small bowl whisk together the cornstarch, paprika, allspice, parsley, nutmeg, ginger, tomato paste, salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons water. Add to the vegetable mixture.
• Once the turtle has cooled, put meat in cheesecloth, and tie closed with butcher's twine and add to the pot. The turtle needs to be in cheesecloth so that it can be extracted from the stew before pureeing. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the mixture boils, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove the turtle in the cheesecloth and strain vegetables from stock. Transfer cooked vegetables to a food processor and process until a chunky paste is achieved. Remove the turtle from cheesecloth and return the meat to saucepan with reserved liquid and pureed vegetables. Cook over medium heat until desired thickness is achieved, about 20 minutes. Ladle into serving bowls and finish with a little sherry in each bowl before serving.

SPICY CAJUN SEAFOOD STEW

Steps:

• 1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Cook the sausage until browned, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted and the meat is well coated, about 2 minutes. Add the Cajun seasoning, garlic, peppers and onions and continue to cook until the vegetables are softened, 5 minutes. Add the clam juice, tomatoes and 4 cups water, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, and increase the heat to bring to a simmer.
• 2. Lower the heat slightly and simmer until the stew is thickened and the flavors are melded, about 30 minutes. Gently stir in the fish and shrimp. Cook, making sure the stew is not bubbling vigorously, stirring once or twice, until the shrimp and fish have just turned opaque, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Season with salt and serve over rice.

LOUISIANA BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Combine flour, salt, celery salt, garlic salt, black pepper, and ground ginger in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture evenly on to the beef.
• Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot on medium-high heat. Add the bacon drippings. Brown the beef in the pot, stirring as necessary. Drain excess fat.
• Add the diced tomatoes, onions, vinegar, molasses, and water to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
• Add the carrots and raisins and simmer for an additional 30 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Serve with steamed rice.

TURTLE SOUP

Steps:

• In a heavy 4-qt. saucepan, bring turtle meat and water to a boil. Skim off foam. Chop 1 onion and set aside. Quarter the other onion; add to saucepan along with bay leaf, cayenne pepper and salt. Cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the meat is tender. Remove meat with a slotted spoon and cut into 1/2-in. cubes; set aside. Strain broth and set aside. Rinse and dry saucepan; melt butter over medium-high heat. Cook chopped onion until tender. Add flour; cook and stir until bubbly and lightly browned. Whisk in reserved broth; cook and stir until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in tomato puree and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer,, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add chicken broth, eggs, lemon juice and meat. Simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with parsley if desired.