New Orleans Night

Yesterday afternoon we took a nice long boat ride to a marina where we had lunch.  On the way back, we took our time looking at the gargantuan houses on the lake.  Most of them I find gaudy and ostentatious, but there are a few that are simply elegant and lovely.  I have a favorite house on Smith Mountain Lake and I try to make a point of going to see it every time we’re here.  What makes this particular home so lovely is that while it’s quite large, it was designed around the landscape and the shape of the peninsula.  It has views of the lake from three sides with a boat house on one side and a gazebo on the western side for watching the sunset.  Derek always reminds me that it’s on a busy part of the lake, but I think I could live with that!

Shrimp Etouffée

Our New Orleans night started with a lovely fresh asparagus salad with tomatoes from our garden and a red wine Dijon mustard vinaigrette with a splash of lemon juice.  I was trying to clean out the refrigerator and wanted to keep it consistent with the French Creole theme, while making use of what we had – always a challenge for me!  The shrimp stock for the etouffée had been simmering for several hours while we were out on the boat, so it was a nice dark color and full of shrimp flavor.  We have an electric stove here (bane of my existence), which makes it somewhat difficult to make a dark roux without burning it, and that, of course, is completely unacceptable.  Well, guess what!  I burned it and had to start over.  In this case, the second time was a charm, and Derek took over stirring for me so I could get busy with making the salad dressing and the rice.  I had ample stock left over, so I cooked the rice in stock instead of water.  I always use brown rice or Konriko Wild Pecan Rice, when I can find it; it adds some fiber and other nutrients.  In fact, I’ve begun using white whole wheat flour when making a roux, and I prefer it, because it darkens more quickly while retaining more thickening power - and it’s more nutritious.  I know that many folks would cringe at the very idea of calling shrimp etouffée nutritious, but I’ve always believed that when you make things from scratch with love and fresh ingredients, it’s good for your soul, at the very least!  Derek had burned some CD’s of New Orleans music and we listened to them while preparing and eating our New Orleans dinner.  I told some stories about my musician friends, including Leigh Harris aka Little Queenie, whom we’re going to visit tomorrow in North Carolina.  The kids really enjoyed telling us their stories about all the street musicians they had seen in the French Quarter on their recent trip to The Crescent City.

For dessert we had frozen cream puffs that I bought at the Kroger in Rocky Mount.  I think I’ve mentioned that I’m no baker, so I’ve found many store-bought desserts that meet my high standards.  These frozen cream puffs and mini éclairs really fit the bill, and there’s never a single one left.  It was a tasty way to end our last night together this summer.