Make the Mustard and Tarragon Mayonnaise: Put the egg yolk, mustard, tarragon, salt, and pepper in a medium mixing bowl that has been set over a damp cloth to stabilize it. Whisk until blended. Slowly add the peanut oil so that it becomes incorporated into the egg mixture almost immediately. You don’t want so much oil at a time that you cannot incorporate it. Whisk in the lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning. This mayonnaise will have a bolder flavor than usual, but it will blend perfectly with the crawfish.

Make the crawfish salad: Place the crawfish, chopped celery, chopped scallion, and ½ cup of the mayonnaise in a large bowl. Mix. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper if needed. Chill 30 minutes.

Place the bacon over medium heat in a pan over the stove. Cook until crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Toast bread.

Spread some of the leftover mayonnaise on each piece of bread. Mayonnaise side up, place a few slices of tomato on 6 slices of bread. Sprinkle with salt. Place about 2/3 cup of the crawfish salad over that and spread evenly. Top each with 2 slices of bacon that has been broken into 4 pieces. Top those with lettuce. Place the final 6 pieces of bread, mayonnaise side down, over the crawfish-salad-topped bread slices so that you have 6 sandwiches.

Serve immediately.

A friend recently asked us if we’d like to take home some leftover crawfish after a recent crawfish boil. My husband lamented that most people try to use them for etouffee, but that he just can’t get past the crawfish boil seasoning.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to use them in an etouffee since some of the beauty of that dish is in the delicate flavors released by the crawfish during the cooking process.

This crawfish salad is quick and easy, and actually uses the spicy elements of the crawfish boil to its benefit. I can’t imagine making it without leftover spicy boiled crawfish. Tuck it into some good white bread with lettuce, ripe tomato, and bacon.