Crawfish Meatballs with Creole Tartar Sauce (Cajun Boulettes au Écrevisse et Sauce Tartare)

Boulettes are meat, seafood or poultry that's been minced, chopped or pureed and formed into bite-size balls. They are usually coated with flour or breadcrumbs and may be fried, poached, or baked.

½ cup onions, chopped
¼ cup bell peppers, chopped
¼ cup celery, chopped
1½ tsp. garlic, minced
1 lb crawfish tails, peeled or 1 lb shrimp, cooked and peeled
3 slices stale bread, broken into small pieces
1 egg, beaten
3 Tbsp. green onions, chopped
2 Tbsp. parsley leaves, chopped
1 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1½ cups dried fine breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp. Emeril's Bayou Blast
solid vegetable shortening or vegetable oil for deep-frying

Creole Tartar Sauce:
1 egg
2 Tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 Tbsp. green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Creole or whole-grain mustard
1 Tbsp. parsley chopped
1 cup olive oil
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. sea salt

Creole Tartar Sauce:
Put the egg, lemon juice, green onions, garlic, Creole mustard, and parsley in a food processor and puree for 15 seconds. With the processor running, pour the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream. Add the cayenne and salt and pulse once or twice to blend.

Cover and let sit for 1 hour in the refrigerator before using. Best if used within 24 hours.

Crawfish Boulettes:
In a food processor with a metal blade, combine the onions, peppers, celery, garlic, crawfish tails, bread pieces and egg together. Pulse the mixture a few times to finely chop the mixture. Do not puree. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the green onions and parsley. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Fill a large, heavy stockpot or saucepan with shortening or oil to a depth of 3". Preheat oil to 360 F.

Shape the mixture into small balls, about 1 Tbsp. each. Season the bread crumbs with the 1 Tbsp. of Bayou Blast. Roll the balls into the seasoned bread crumbs. Fry the boulettes until golden brown, about 2 minutes.

Remove from the oil and drain on a paper-lined plate. Season with additional Bayou Blast, if desired.

Serve hot with Creole Tartar Sauce.

Makes 40.