Snowy Night Road Trip Fantasies

When the snow sifts down all day & the great big plows go by in the Cleveland streets as the landscape turns white, my thoughts turn to warm places. Looking at the weather report next week, when one day shows a high of 7 degrees, I told J, "It's too bad we're not going to be in Miami then!" Since we can't jump in the car for a road trip to go to Slidell and look for our joy as we visit Jenny & Mick, since we can't go meet Lynnie in Metairie, I decided to bring a little of Louisiana into our home tonight. I made bayou shrimp, accompanied by jasmine rice and lima beans cooked to within an inch of their lives. For dessert, we had a bananas Foster tart with scoops of Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream.

Bayou Shrimp

1/2 stick butter

1/4 c. water

Juice of half a lemon

2 tsp. freshly grated pepper

1 1/2 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins is my favorite)

14 large raw shrimp

Melt the butter over medium heat. Add everything but the shrimp. Simmer until reduced to half a cup, about 3 minutes. Salt to taste. Add shrimp. Cover & cook until pink, about 4 minutes. (the cooking liquid is great over the rice)

Bananas Foster Tart

1 9" pie crust

2 sliced bananas

4 1/2 tsp. dark rum

2 tsp. orange zest

2/3 c. ch. pecans (I only had walnuts & they were good, too)

2/3 c. brown sugar (light is fine, but I like dark)

1/4 c. whipping cream

1/2 stick butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put pie crust in tart pan (you can use a pie plate if you don't have a tart pan) and bake 9-11 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Mix bananas with rum. Sprinkle orange zest in bottom of crust. Add bananas. Sprinkle with pecans. Mix sugar, cream and butter together and cook, stirring, on medium heat until boiling, about 3 minutes. It's important to let it come to a full boil. Then, cook another 4 minutes or so. Remove from heat & stir in vanilla. Spoon over bananas and pecans. Let cool 1/2 hour. I really do recommend fairly small pieces and definitely a scoop of ice cream with each piece.