Part Fifty-Eight

"Shrimp stew. From the kitchen of Agnes Lambert." Florence said the words aloud as she wrote them in big letters at the top of a page in her notebook. She sat in the glare of an overhead light on the 5:20 a.m. ferry with the notebook on her knees.

"Why are you rewriting the recipe?" asked Luke.

"Because some genius spilled wine all over my original copy," said Florence with a glance toward the spot where Raoul would normally be sitting.

"I think Raoul was more heartbroken about wasting good wine," said Kelly.

"First you peel the shrimp," said Peggy.

  

"That's the part I can do without," said Florence.

"I read Agnes's notes on this, which were given to me by Fran," said Peggy. "Agnes swears by medium Gulf shrimp. On Bainbridge Island you can get them at Town and Country."

"Okay, let's assume I talk someone into peeling the shrimp for me. Then what?"

"Then you make a roux," said Peggy.

"Let's see that was 2 Tablespoons of flour and 2 Tablespoons of oil," said Florence.

"You want equal amounts of flour and oil. The actual amount you choose depends on how much you're making. I think we could have used more roux," said Peggy.

"It was delicious," said Kelly.

"Could you explain the roux part again?" asked Florence.

"You start with a heavy pot and get it warmed up on medium heat. Raoul had a nice cast iron Dutch oven that was perfect."



Florence scribbled rapidly on her pad. "In other words I should go spend the weekend at Raoul's house whenever I make this dish?"

"Uh, no. You can buy your own pot," said Peggy with a smile.

Then she continued, "When the pot is warmed up you add the oil and let it get hot. Then you add the flour slowly, stirring constantly with a big wooden spoon."



"The roux will be white at first, but as it cooks it will turn brown. You want it to be the color of cardboard. Those are her words."



"That's funny, it didn't taste like cardboard," said Luke.

"Didn't we already hear that joke?" said Florence.

"More than once, I'm afraid," said Kelly.

"When the roux is the right color you add the shrimp and toss them around until they are good and coated with the roux. Then you add a kettle of hot water."

"But didn't we have a discussion about that on Saturday?" asked Florence.

"I believe Raoul pointed out that we discussed it to death," said Kelly.

"The issue is that when Agnes wrote 'a kettle of water' in the recipe I think she was talking about a smaller kettle than we used. That's why, in my opinion, the stew was too thin."

"But the flavor was great," said Luke.

"I'm thinking the right amount of water is about four cups. If you use more than four cups you should make more roux," said Peggy.

"Okay so I add water and then what?" asked Florence.



"You add half of a bell pepper, a stalk of celery cut in half, and half of a small onion. All of these are placed in the pot whole. You don't chop them."



Peggy continued when Florence was ready. "Then you add, and I'm quoting, a dash of Lea & Perrins, some dried parsley, salt and pepper."

"Is that Worcestershire sauce?" asked Florence, pen hovering above the pad.

"Yes. I would go with a teaspoon of the Lea & Perrins and a tablespoon of the parsley. Go easy on the salt and pepper at first. Then you cook it for about an hour. When you're about half way through, go ahead and make some white rice. Fran told me that Agnes only used Uncle Ben's."

"She sure was particular about her ingredients," said Florence.

"I gathered as much from Fran. You serve the stew over the rice, and it's good with lima beans or green beans on the side," added Peggy.



"Mmm, I'm hungry all over again," said Kelly.

"Don't forget to cut up a nice fresh baguette to go with that," said Luke.

"Definitely," said Kelly. "I was munching on bread and broth all night long."

"We noticed," said Luke.

Peggy paused and sipped her tea. She looked out at the brightly light Seattle skyline across the water. She had told herself that it would feel good to walk to the ferry alone again, to be on her own. But for some reason it wasn't how she felt. She mostly noticed his absence. "I wish Raoul were here," she said out loud to no one in particular.

"Yeah, we need somebody to pick on," said Florence.

Florence and Peggy both looked at Kelly.

"Don't make me your next punching bag," he protested.