Yes! I trained my yankee, Italian wife to make red beans and rice early on and she's become a master. You're right... Rouxs can be tough. Takes work. I can do it well when I'm not being lazy...:-)
I have no idea what I did when I tried to post a link from that thread to you and it did something weird, so this time I'm not attempting a link - just the thread title.
Please keep us informed!