It is the height of crawfish season. Here are 3 recipe ideas.

Crawfish are good eating, especially now. Through late May, the mudbugs should be plentiful.

Restaurants and supermarkets sell them seasoned, boiled and ready to eat for good prices.

One longtime Gulfport restaurant was selling the boiled crawfish for $3.50 a pound. Diane Desporte of Long Beach said she bought some at a Long Beach supermarket for $2.99 a pound. The crawfish have been good-sized and spicy good.

Most Coastians enjoy a crawfish boil for friends and family. Taylor Shaw of Biloxi dumps crawfish, plenty of seasonings, potatoes, corn and fresh mushrooms into his pot with excellent results. Honestly, the mushrooms are the best.

Now with the no-more-than-10 people rule for gatherings, it lessons the fun of a big, old boil. Today, the crawfish boils are more for family inside the household.

Never fret, cooks, crawfish can be done in many forms, just like the old song, “Jambalaya, crawfish pie and file gumbo…” says. Coast supermarkets and seafood markets have packages of just crawfish tails, which makes it easier for soups, jambalaya, etouffee and even a crawfish salad.

While going through my files, I found an old recipe book from Biloxi called “Biloxi, Miss., Southern Cookbook of Fine Old Recipes,” first published in 1965. In it is a crawfish bisque recipe. Seafood soups can be so enjoyable for lunch or dinner. With some French or garlic bread and a green salad, that is a tasty, not-to-difficult meal.

Cooks, do not let crawfish season pass you by. Give some of these other crawfish recipes a try.

Crawfish bisque

2 (8-ounce) packages fresh-frozen crawfish

1 medium-sized onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)

1 leek, minced, white part only

1 medium-sized carrot, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

5 cups chicken broth

Few drops Tabasco

1 bay leaf

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 cup cream

Prepare whole crawfish by boiling them until meat is opaque. Peel and devein tails. Heat butter in a large kettle or sauce pot having a tight-fitting lid. Blend in a mixture of the flour, salt and pepper; heat until mixture bubbles. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in broth and Tabasco. Add vegetables and bay leaf. Return to heat; cover kettle and simmer 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely chop the cooked crawfish and add to the kettle. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

Place in a food mill over large bowl and pour soup mixture through the food mill, forcing through as much crawfish as possible. Return soup to kettle and reheat. Quickly stir about 3 tablespoons hot soup into egg yolks. Immediately return egg yolk mixture to soup, stirring vigorously.

Cook soup until thoroughly heated, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not boil. Add the cream gradually, stirring constantly. Add crawfish pieces remaining in food mill to soup. Stirring constantly, heat thoroughly. Makes 8 servings. – From “Biloxi, Miss., The Southern Cookbook of Fine Old Recipes”

Crawfish etouffee

2 pounds boiled, peeled and deveined tail meat, save the fat

Sauté in 1/4 pound butter:

1 cup finely chopped onions

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 bell pepper, finely chopped

4 cloves pressed garlic

When vegetables are done, add the crawfish and cook on lowest flame for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch with enough water to make a thin past.

To this add:

1 teaspoon Accent

1/4 teaspoon red pepper (more or less, as desired)2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons crawfish fat

1/2 teaspoon sherry wine

Mix the seasoning above with the crawfish and bring back to simmer. Turn off flame and let steep for 20 minutes to blend flavors. Serve over white rice. -- From “Cajun Country Cooking”

Crawfish salad

1 pound Louisiana crawfish tails

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 (8-ounce) package of elbow macaroni pasta

1/2 cup chopped red onion

Cayenne pepper, to taste

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning, to taste

1 medium chopped cucumber

6 boiled eggs (peeled)

1 tablespoon Zatarain’s liquid crab boil

1/2 cup of Hellman’s mayonnaise

Boil the pasta in salted water according to package directions. Rinse and strain. Allow the pasta to cool. In a separate pot, place the crawfish and liquid boil in lightly salted water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cook crawfish for about 5 minutes. Allow crawfish to cool.

Chop the boiled eggs. Peel and cube the cucumbers.

Mix pasta, crawfish and other ingredients in a large bowl. Season to taste. Add 1/2 cup more or less mayonnaise and mix well.

Some prefer a spicier crawfish salad. Be sure to season this dish to your liking. Goes well with saltine crackers or your cracker of choice. You may chill the crawfish salad before serving or serve it warm. -- From www.crawfish.com/

Andrea Yeager can be reached at ayeager51@cableone.net/ and Cooks Exchange, 205 DeBuys Road, Gulfport, MS 39507.