Carolina Pickled Shrimp in a Jar

I've been having lots of fun playing around with canning jars of all shapes and sizes.  Pickled shrimp is one of my favorite appetizers and makes a beautiful presentation in a quart jar! This is a great tasting, light, and refreshing dish for a summer appetizer or to add atop a salad. 

½ Vidalia or other sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 lemon, thinly sliced

1 ½ pounds (41-50 count) medium shrimp, peeled & cooked

Marinade:

¾ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup canola or safflower oil

¼ cup capers with juices

¾ teaspoon celery seeds

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon whole pepper corns

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.  In a 1 quart wide-mouth jar, place a layer of shrimp, then onion and lemon and repeat layers until the jar is almost full.  Pour the marinade over the shrimp and fill to cover the ingredients.  Seal the jar tightly.  (you can tilt the jar a couple of times to make sure all ingredients are covered with the marinade.) Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.  Serve with crackers or toasted baguette as an appetizer or atop lettuces with tomato wedges as a salad.

Individual Mason Jar Fruit Crisps

It’s July and fresh fruit is in season!  What could be more fun than portable, individual, cute desserts in a jar?  Off to Wal-Mart I went to find the correct size canning jars… the short, wide-mouth jars would be perfect for these crisps.  I purchased the last 16 jars (sold in sets of 4) on the shelf and the lady behind me was quite distressed that there weren’t any left for her!  I served these after dinner at home, but they would be perfect to pack for a picnic or take to a pot luck gathering.  They would also be great to take to a neighbor as a get well or welcome to the neighborhood gift. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Spray the inside of 8-ounce jars with cooking spray. (I used the short, wide mouth jars) 

INGREDIENTS:
For the fruit part of the crisp:

• Fresh or frozen fruit — about 1 cup of fruit per jar
• 1 tablespoon of white or brown sugar per cup of fruit
• 1 tablespoon of flour per cup of fruit
• ½ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

To make 4 crisps, you’ll need about 4 cups of chopped fruit.  Thus far, I’ve made blueberry and peach crisps but you can use most any fruit. Add the flour, sugar, and flavoring and stir until all the fruit is coated. 

Fill the jars up to the line just below the screw rings, leaving enough space for the topping.

Streusel Topping

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Mix together the dry ingredients.  Add cubed butter and mix with your hands or pastry blender until mixture is crumbly and well combined. 

This will make enough topping for 8 to 12 crisps, depending on how much topping you use for each one; I made 12.  If you’re only making a few jars of crisp, you can put the extra in a ziploc bag, refrigerate it, and save for another batch or you can halve the recipe.

Scoop about 1/3 to ½ cup of the topping and press it onto the fruit, filling almost to the top of the jar.

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 40 minutes.

Let cool and top with freshly whipped cream or ice cream!

Tip:  if you don’t plan to use them all at once, you can put the lids on the crisps and freeze them because canning jars can go from freezer to oven.

Summer Melon Fruit Basket

What's better than watermelon and cantaloupe on a hot summer day?  Perhaps the fun of making a basket from the watermelon rind is the icing on the cake!  Use small cookie cutters to cut out stars, butterflies, and hearts from the fruit.  Decorate your basket with decorative skewers (I got mine at the Dollar Tree!)... and you're all set!  Fun to make and fun to eat!  Enjoy!

Carolina Shrimp Mousse Mold

I love to put my Tupperware mold to good use and since I am to bring an appetizer to a bbq this evening, I decided to make a shrimp mousse mold.  Being in the upper 80's here in North Carolina, something light & cool will fit the bill & this recipe will feed a crowd.  There are a number of recipes for shrimp molds but I like the combination of shrimp and tomato so here's a recipe and adapted it to my own taste. 

Ingredients:

1 (10.75 ounce)can condensed tomato Soup 2 (.25 ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin ¼  cup cold water ¼ cup white wine 8 ounces low fat cream cheese, softened 1 cup light mayonnaise 1 pound cooked shrimp, shelled &    deveined 1 cup minced celery ½ cup green onions, minced 1 teaspoon horseradish 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

Directions:

1.	Heat soup in a small saucepan.
2.	In a medium bowl, stir gelatin into cold water & wine. Mix hot tomato soup into the gelatin liquid.
3.	In a medium size mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and mayonnaise together. Mix soup mixture into the mayonnaise and cream cheese mixture. Mix well. Add shrimp, celery, green onions, horseradish and Old Bay seasoning.
4.	Spoon the mixture into a 1 quart mold and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight. Unmold onto a serving plate before serving. Garnish with thinly sliced cucumbers or lemon. Serve with crusty bread, crackers, or veggies.

My Mama's Fried Okra and Potatoes

Serves 4

Being from New Hampshire, hubby had never been served okra until he met me & now he begs for it!  I  grew up with this tasty veggie side dish & it's still one of my summertime favorites.    Nobody could make fried okra like my Mama!  Though it's called "fried", it's not deep fried but sauteed in a bit of veggie oil ... it's simple fare at it's best!  Here's the recipe;  note that the onions are optional... we didn't like onions as children, but  onion adds an extra layer of flavor.  Here's a tip to remember:  the larger the okra pod, the tougher, so be sure to select smaller pods.  The okra should be tender and slice easily; if you come across a tough pod, discard it.

• 1 pound fresh okra
• 2 large potatoes (any type will do)
• 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cornmeal (more if necessary)*
• 3 Tablespoons flour*
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil (more if necessary)

Wash okra and cut off stem ends. Cut in small slices (1/4 to 1/2 inch). Peel potatoes and dice into 1/2-inch pieces.  Place okra and potatoes in large bowl. Add chopped onion to mixture. Sprinkle cornmeal, flour, salt and pepper over mixture. Stir until okra & potatoes are coated with the cornmeal mixture.  

Heat cooking oil in large skillet over medium heat & carefully spoon okra/potato mixture into hot oil. Fry, turning mixture occasionally, until potatoes are done and mixture is nicely browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. If the mixture begins to stick, add a bit more oil.  Drain on paper towels.

*Tip:  Sometimes I use Jiffy cornbread mix as a replacement for the cornmeal and flour... it won't take the entire box so save the rest to make another batch!

Appalachian Foothills Peach Sonker

Yesterday morning while reading the NY Times, hubby came into my home office & handed me an article to read.  As he did so, he said "Neither you nor our daughter-in-law who hails from Surry County have made a sonker for me and I'd like one"!  Well... I am Southern born & bred and I have had my share of pies, cobblers, crisps, and yes, even a grunt.... but I've never had a sonker!  That is until today!  I generally read the NY Times for fashion inspiration, the arts, the book review, and world events ... so now, I will be certain to read the Food & Dining section of the Times!   Click here for a link to the article that appeared.

After doing a bit of research, this is the recipe that I made and once again, it is a keeper!  I think it would work well with peaches, berries or apples... But when you read the article, you will learn that sweet potato sonkers are the "real deal"... I'm thinking autumn for this one!

Adapted from Nancie McDermott's "Southern Pies"

Ingredients
2 9-inch refrigerated pie crusts, rolled out into a rectangle shape (I used Pillsbury)

  Or you can make your own!

For filling:
1 1/2 c. sugar (I used ¾ cup Splenda)
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla
9 c. fresh peaches, peeled and cut into slices (about 10 large peaches)
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

 
1. Roll one pie crust & line a 9x13-inch greased and floured baking pan. Make sure to tuck the dough into the corners.

2. Roll out remaining crust and cut into long strips, approximately 1-inch wide.

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt, using a fork or whisk to combine. Add the sliced and peeled peaches and gently toss them with the dry mixture until they are evenly coated. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and toss again to combine.  Pour the filling into the pastry-lined pan and spread evenly. Pour the melted butter and 1/4 c. water evenly over the peach filling.

4. With the remaining crust strips, weave a criss-cross or lattice pattern across the top of the filling. Press the end of each strip against the side of the pastry crust.  Seal and crimp the edges using your fingers.

5. Place the sonker in the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for about 45-55 minutes more, or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

There is an optional dip in the McDermott cookbook but I didn't make it... just served mine warm  with high quality vanilla ice cream.  But if you're interested, here's the recipe!

For dip:
1/2 c. sugar
3 Tblsp. cornstarch
3 c. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, mixing well with a fork or whisk. Add milk and vanilla and stir to dissolve the dry mixture into the milk. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir constantly as it comes to a boil. As soon as it boils, reduce the heat and let the dip simmer until it thickens and becomes smooth, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to let cool.  Serve sonker warm, covering each slice with a generous ladle-full of dip.