A dish that really impressed me on a recent visit to Cherokee Rose in Stone Mountain Village is their crawfish cake with remoulade. It was incredibly flavorful, with just the right balance of richness and spice and the remoulade tied everything together beautifully. It’s one of those dishes that lingers in your memory long after the meal is over. Do you think the restaurant might be willing to share the recipe?
— Joel Haffey, Atlanta
Restaurateur Jonathan Hartnett opened Cherokee Rose in 2021. “In creating the menu (when we were opening), a crawfish cake seemed like a good alternative to crab cakes. Now it’s so popular we can’t take it off our menu.”
The restaurant prepares the mixture for these cakes using 5 pounds of crawfish tails at a time, enough to make 20 appetizer servings of one cake each. For home cooks, we’ve scaled down the recipe to make four cakes. The cakes are served with a lemon half that’s been charred on a hot grill and a small handful of mixed greens and diced tomato.
Crawfish tails are available at the Buford Highway and DeKalb farmers markets. Plan ahead and prepare the crawfish mixture one day before you plan to fry the cakes and serve.
Cherokee Rose’s Crawfish Cakes
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil such as canola, plus more for frying
- 6 tablespoons diced onion
- 6 tablespoons diced green pepper
- 1/4 cup diced celery
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Scant 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon tart, dry white wine such as Chablis
- 1 pound crawfish tails, thawed if frozen
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons water
- Remoulade, for serving (see recipe)
- Lemon halves, mixed greens, diced tomato and smoked paprika, for serving
- In a large skillet, warm 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add onion, green pepper and celery and cook 6 minutes or until vegetables are translucent.
- Stir in garlic, salt and cayenne pepper and cook 1 minute.
- Lower heat to medium-low, add wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape browned bits from the bottom and sides of the skillet. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until liquid has been reduced to 1 tablespoon.
- Stir in crawfish and cook 2 minutes or until tails curl.
- Stir in 1/4 cup flour until it evenly coats crawfish and cook 1 minute.
- Stir in Parmesan, cream and basil. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- When ready to cook, heat 2 inches neutral oil to 350 degrees in a Dutch oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Line a second baking sheet with paper towels.
- Put remaining 1 cup flour in a pie plate. In a second pie plate, combine eggs and water and beat with a fork until frothy.
- Form the crawfish mixture into four cakes. One at a time, place each cake in flour and turn so all sides are lightly coated. Transfer cake to egg mixture and turn to coat all sides, then return cake to flour for a second coat. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining 3 cakes.
- Carefully lower floured cakes into hot oil. Fry 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Cook in batches if needed. Transfer browned cakes to paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.
- Divide remoulade between 4 serving plates and top with one cake. Garnish with lemon halves, mixed greens and diced tomato. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and serve.
Makes 4 cakes.
Per cake with remoulade: 344 calories (percent of calories from fat, 43), 25 grams protein, 21 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams total sugars, 1 gram fiber, 16 grams total fat (5 grams saturated), 241 milligrams cholesterol, 483 milligrams sodium.
Remoulade
We’ve scaled this recipe down from the more than 4-quart batch the restaurant makes every week.
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons Creole mustard
- 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 3/4 teaspoon Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon Red Rooster hot sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
- Heaping 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- In a large bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sour cream, Creole mustard, horseradish, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, hot sauce, garlic and salt.
- Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. May be prepared up to 1 week in advance.
Makes 1 generous cup.
Per tablespoon: 60 calories (percent of calories from fat, 90), trace protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, trace total sugars, trace fiber, 6 grams total fat (1 gram saturated), 4 milligrams cholesterol, 102 milligrams sodium.
From the menu of … Cherokee Rose, 975 Main St., Stone Mountain. 470-268-7858. cherokeerosebbqbar.com.
Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put “From the menu of” and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.
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