By APES exam was Thursday. I walked in with two sharpened pencils, a bottle of water, and what I can only describe as a very complete understanding of biogeochemical cycles. The free-response section had a question about riparian buffer zones and agricultural runoff and I felt something settle into place inside me — this is the intersection of everything I've been studying since the crawfish paper, since the science competition, since MawMaw first taught me to care about where food comes from. I wrote four pages and I wasn't performing. I was just thinking.
Mama was on the porch when I got home, shelling peas. Not because peas needed shelling — she'd bought them already shelled — but because she knew I'd need something to do with my hands when I got home. She'd bought them whole on purpose. That is the kind of mother she is: she thinks three steps ahead and she does her thinking in the grocery store. We sat together for an hour shelling peas and I told her everything about the exam and she asked the right questions and she didn't once say she was sure I'd done well. She just listened. That was better.
AP English Lit is on Friday. I've been rereading "Their Eyes Were Watching God" because Zora Neale Hurston has a way of writing about hunger — the hunger for love, for dignity, for home — that feels true to things I've been trying to write about myself. There's a passage about Janie's grandmother making food out of almost nothing and it broke my heart open the first time I read it and it breaks my heart open every time since.
MawMaw called to wish me luck. She said, "You already have it in you. The exam is just asking you to show it." Then she asked what I was eating for dinner and when I said leftover pea soup from the peas we shelled, she approved thoroughly. She has strong feelings about eating well before intellectual effort. I think she's right.
The crawfish paper started all of this — the science competition, the deep dive into agricultural runoff, the riparian buffer question I answered on Thursday like I’d been preparing for it my whole life — so it felt right, after everything, to come back to crawfish. MawMaw would approve: she believes food should mean something, and this recipe means something. Mama shelled peas for me today because she knew I’d need my hands busy; I’m making these beignets tonight because I need to celebrate quietly, in the kitchen, the way our family does.
Crawfish Beignets with Cajun Dipping Sauce
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 lb crawfish tails, cooked and roughly chopped
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, divided
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp celery, finely minced
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp Creole mustard
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
- Make the dipping sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Creole mustard, hot sauce, lemon juice, smoked paprika, and 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper, remaining 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper.
- Combine the batter. Add the beaten eggs and milk to the dry ingredients and stir until a thick batter forms. Fold in the chopped crawfish tails, green onions, and celery until evenly distributed.
- Heat the oil. Pour vegetable oil into a deep skillet or Dutch oven to a depth of about 2 inches. Heat over medium-high heat until it reaches 350°F.
- Fry the beignets. Working in batches, drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the hot oil. Fry for 2—3 minutes per side, turning once, until deep golden brown and cooked through. Do not crowd the pan.
- Drain and serve. Transfer beignets to a paper towel-lined plate to drain briefly. Serve hot alongside the Cajun dipping sauce.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 320 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 17g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 620mg