The Intimadator

"When you work in a small office, there are very few places to hide the crazy."

This is my favorite quote of the week from one of my coworkers.  She's fairly new to the office and is just now finding out what I've known for five years now - our office is a Monday through Friday psychopathic roller coaster ride.  It's a running joke that my job reminds me so much of my second marriage and I partly think that fact has helped me cope with the office full of crazy for so long.  After a while you learn how to spot the subtle (and not so subtle) signs of who is having a bad day, when to keep your head down and when it might be time to sign the separation papers and find the door.

For the most part, I love my job but there's only so much intimidation you can take before something you like and enjoy becomes a dread. Only so many days that praying that the boss doesn't come in actually pays off.  So much disappointment when you pull into the parking lot each morning and realize the place isn't totally engulfed in flames (I've actually witnessed one of my jobs burn nearly down to the ground before.)

Wielding power through intimidation is a mighty thing - a rush of addictive adrenaline.  And I only know this because I occasionally get to be the office intimadator - it's a very rare occurrence, but it happens.  And it happened last week.

A few of us were discussing lunch plans - who's going where and eating what and I announced that I was going home (I have that luxury since I only live 5 minutes away) and having leftover crawfish etouffee for lunch.  They looked at me in disbelief.

You're having what?

Crawfish etouffee. 

Where did you get it?

I made it.

That sounds so intimidating.

I tried to explain that my version of the bayou delicacy was one of the easiest things in the world to make but they would have no part of my trying to bully them into thinking that.  They rushed off to eat their fast food and talk about who does she think she is and can you believe she actually said that??  Meanwhile this office outcast went home to enjoy the simplest, most delicious lunch and felt no remorse for lording her cooking skills over the office minions. 

Seriously, folks.  Don't be intimidated or feel bullied by the title of food.  This is the simplest dish ever.  It is by no means authentic Creole cuisine and does not have a roux base because I'm taking steps to cut processed foods from my diet (in this case white flour), but there is still plenty of flavor and the simplistic nature of this dish makes it appear regularly on my menus. 


Rouxlessness Crawfish Etouffee
(Get it??  Rouxlessness = Ruthlessness.  Sounds intimidating, huh?)

Serves 4

1 package frozen crawfish meat, thawed
1 large onion, diced
1 cup green bell peppers, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup scallions, sliced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 stick butter
Tony Cacheres Seasoning
Rice, cooked*

Melt butter in saute pan over medium high heat.  Saute onions, celery and bell pepper until clear, about 7 minutes.  Add crawfish and scallions.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until crawfish is heated through and begins to curl, about 10 minutes.  Season to taste with Tony Cacheres.  Remove from heat and stir in green onions and parsley.  Serve over rice.

*For every 1 cup of rice, boil 2 cups of water.  Add rice and stir once.  Cover and turn heat to lowest setting.  Do not disturb for at least 15 minutes.  Fluff with fork.