AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - March 2022 - 88

New Orleans
Crawfish Etouffee (for four)
Courtesy Mrs. Joan Herbert (adapted from Jambalaya
The Junior League of New Orleans cookbook)
6 T. butter
¼ c. flour
1 c. chopped onion
½ c. chopped green pepper
½ c. chopped celery
1 T. minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 ½ c. crawfish tails (or shrimp)
½ c. lard or butter
1 t. salt
¼ t. black pepper
¼ t. cayenne or Tabasco
1 t. lemon juice
1/3 c. chopped scallions
1 T. fresh parsley
¼ c. brandy
1 c. cold water
1-2 c. hot water
In a Dutch oven, melt butter. Add flour,
stirring constantly. Cook over low heat
until a medium brown roux is formed
(15 to 20 minutes). Add onion, green
pepper, celery, bay leaf, and garlic and
cook 20 minutes. Add crawfish, fat (lard
or butter), salt, pepper, lemon juice,
brandy, scallions, and parsley. Add one
cup of cold water and bring to boil. Lower
heat and simmer for 12 minutes. Remove
bay leaf. Before serving, reheat etouffee
slowly adding 1 to 2 cups hot water to
form gravy. Serve over boiled white rice.
from New Orleans. Herbert is a photographer for
The Associated Press, native of Louisiana, and
owner of a 1976 Cessna 172M, nicknamed " the
Love Bug. " His hangar is the epitome of what a
New Orleans jazz lover should have: these ridiculously
comfortable couches, a fully stocked bar,
and a snazzy stereo system blaring Coltrane.
" I wanted the hangar to be a place for my
friends and family to hang out while I preflighted
the airplane or for after we come back
from flying, " he says, his slight southern accent
occasionally breaking through. He's lived all
over the world, yet he came back home to learn
to fly, to find love, and eat his mother's crawfish
etouffee. " The whole reason I learned to
fly was because I fell in love with a girl from
Shreveport. I got so many speeding tickets, I
eventually had to buy a plane and learn to fly.
I put a thousand hours going back and forth
to Shreveport-and scored a lot of boyfriend
points-in this plane. " He and now-wife Lucy
christened the Cessna with its nickname.
" Flying southern Louisiana is incredibly
beautiful. Over the swamps you'll see flocks of
egrets; over the Gulf, schools of dolphins; over
the plantations, man that's just eye candy, " he
says. " Every place has its own beauty but here
the sky is just magic. "
88
AOPA PILOT / March 2022
It's the natural beauty of the area that
draws pilots like Herbert and Southern
Seaplanes owner Lyle Panepinto, whose business
is over in Belle Chasse. Both remark on
the cypress trees and the swamp.
" I love the cypress trees, " says Panepinto.
" It's like a mini Amazon. " (Look for a story
on Southern Seaplanes in an upcoming issue
of AOPA Pilot magazine.) His favorite flying
destination is the Chandeleur Islands, the
easternmost point of Louisiana, uninhabited
barrier islands where he can set down
his seaplane and fish for native Redfish, bass,
and speckled trout.
And while these two native sons are both
fiercely loyal to their homes, they do admit
to one thing: It is the food that seals the
deal. " We've got these big fat gulf shrimp,
crabs, crawfish. I can bring home shrimp,
put on the boil, and we have them for appetizers
but then are too full for dinner, " says
Herbert. " If you're coming down here, I recommend
you fast for a whole week before
you come. "
" I've been all over and there are few places
that can compare to our fresh food, " says
Panepinto. " The food just ain't the same anywhere
else. " julie.walker@aopa.org
DESTINATIONS
NEW ORLEANS
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - March 2022

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