One of my favorite magazines is Food Network Magazine. My world pretty much comes to a complete stop when it arrives in my mailbox until I quickly page through it to see what recipes look good. In the latest issue, I found a recipe for Shrimp and Chicken Etouffee and decided that was the first thing I was going to try from the magazine. I had never made etouffee or even eaten it before. I always gravitate towards jambalaya instead when in the mood for NOLA food. As part of my New Year’s resolution, I was ready to try something new.
First problem, the recipe was labeled as Weekend Cooking and I decided to try it on a Wednesday. Take it from me, they label these recipes like that for a reason. It was much more time consuming than I had the time for, but didn’t realize it until I already had everything finally cut. Uh oh, this is not going to be good. I decided to cowgirl up and committed to finishing the dinner before Little J’s bedtime.
The recipe was pretty straight forward but there was one little part that I was not 100% sure of, the roux. I have some prior experience with making a roux for my alfredo sauce, but not a dark, nutty roux. As I follow the directions, I immediately start the questions in my mind:
- Should it be more of a solid?
- Or more of a liquid?
- How dark brown?
- What have I gotten myself into?
I took my best guess at the roux’s readiness and continue the recipe by adding the veggies. I’m almost at the end of the recipe and I’m noticing the color of my etouffee is no where near as dark as the one in the picture. Uh oh, this can’t be good. I make the rice and finish up the etouffee not knowing if I just wasted an hour and a half of my life making something we won’t want to eat.
I am happy to report that the meal was delicious and we were happy to pack up the leftovers to freeze and enjoy another day. Apparently roux is not a cruel mistress and just provides different depths of flavor (yes, I said depths of flavor). I will definitely be more patient with it next time to see how it changes the flavor. Are there any cooking techniques that trip you up?
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