Gluten Free Shrimp Etouffee and Hocking Hills, Ohio

Oh, winter, when will you head out and leave a balmy, green spring in your wake? Oh well, what can we do while we wait out Ohio's icy season? For me and my friends, at least one winter weekend means heading down to Hocking Hills in southern Ohio and renting a big log house, hiking, cooking, playing board games, sitting in the hot tub....and cooking! This year, though our numbers were smaller due to some winter illnesses that cropped up and unavoidable conflicts, we still managed to enjoy a lovely weekend and a short trek to Old Man's Cave (above). (Check out my cool boots that I got at a garage sale last summer -- real fur!) We would have hiked more extensively but a pesky ice storm two days before covered the trails with a good 2 inches of ice. Luckily Stu and Maryanne were ready w/ ski poles that had sharp ice picks on the ends! (Check out the frozen waterfall below. For a sense of how massive the icicles above and the whatever-you-call-the-frozen-ice-structure in the pool, note the size of the people hiking to the left.)


Back at the ranch, I made a tummy-warming shrimp etouffee. This was kinda based on a recipe from Emeril that I changed massively. And it was easy to cart down to the cabin -- I made the base the morning we left, and then simply put it all together in a big soup pot at the cabin. Add a blazing fire in the fireplace, a few glasses of red wine (or maybe an ale), and a little KD Lang on the CD player, and you've got a fabulous winter afternoon w/ friends!

Gluten Free Shrimp Etouffee a la Hocking Hills

5 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup gluten free flour
1 cup chopped onion
2 green peppers, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles (Rotel)
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspooon oregano
2 dashes Frank's Hot Sauce
1 quart chicken broth

3 pounds raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
4 chicken Andouille sausages, fully cooked, sliced and browned in a saute pan
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Freshly cooked white rice

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add GF flour and stir to make a roux. Cook roux for 5-7 min. Add onions, bell peppers, garlic and cook for 10 min. Add tomaatores, bay lweaves, cayeenn and tspoices. Whisk in the chicken broth. Bring to boil and simmer for 45 min. (Can be made ahead. Cool, and cart to the cabin with the other ingredients).

At the cabin, heat up the sauce. Add the shrimp and sausage and cook until shrimp are pink and cooked through. Add chopped parsley. Serve in bowls topped with a big spoonful of freshly cooked white rice.