Louisiana Turtle Stew Food

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.

LOUISIANA TURTLE STEW

Steps:

• Parboil the turtle meat; drain.
• Make a brown roux of the fat and flour.
• Add onions, garlic, tomato paste, and tomatoes.
• Cook slowly for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Add turtle meat and add enough boiling salted water to cover the meat.
• Reduce by half.
• Add celery, green onions, peppers, wine and seasoning.
• Cover and cook over medium high heat for approximately 30 minutes.
• Mash the egg yolks, chop the whites and add to thicken the stew.
• If the stew gets too thick, add additional water.
• Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about three hours.
• Half an hour before serving, add the sliced lemon and butter.
• Serve hot.