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Popham Shrimp Casserole

06.01.2015 by J. Doe // 4 Comments

An old school friend posted a brief rant on Facebook last week. He’s been in the midst of a divorce for a while, but also in the midst of an on-again-off-again transitional relationship with another former classmate, one who is also given to public displays of self-pity that I mercifully don’t see anymore – not since she unfriended me.

I was never really sure what prompted her to friend me, since we were never friends in the first place, but I am pretty sure of the reason she unfriended me:  every time their relationship hit a bump, I reached out to him. It’s one of those things you do for people who are actual friends: The ones who walked to elementary school with you, played Risk with you in middle school, are in your high school graduation photos. The ones you see when you’re in their neck of the woods, and vice versa.

The Old School Friend and I chat for a bit and, as usual, he politely leaves out the details, and though he’s frustrated, he also seems to be mentally moving forward: Enough already. Enough with the bumps, the drama, the on-again-off-again.

I mention I’ve been on Jdate, but stop short of actually suggesting he sign up. Though it hardly seems possible that any person could have worse luck than mine on that site, the fact that he lives in a small midwestern college town means the possibility is very real. It doesn’t matter, though. He shudders at the idea of online dating: It didn’t even exist the last time I was single, he despairs. I don’t want to have to learn it.

I feel helpless, and begin searching for something I can do. Would you like some cookies or jam?

Actually, he says, some cookies would be really nice.

I would have preferred he requested jam, since I made a little bit too much Meyer Lemon Marmalade when it was Meyer lemon season.  Still, any reason to make cookies is a good reason, and I have a folder full of recipes I’ve saved for just such an occasion. I choose the most promising one, the one I’ve been looking forward to trying since I found it in the Ovenly cookbook: Cinnamon-Chile Brownies.

Sounds amazing, right?

There is something horribly wrong with a brownie that a child won’t eat, and strangely enough, it wasn’t the flavor of cinnamon or ancho chile that she objected to. How could she? They were barely noticeable. What was noticeable, though, was the texture of the brownies, which was all wrong: Dry in a way that suggested the brownies were stale, even though they emerged from the oven not five minutes before we sampled them.

They did not improve overnight, and although there was more flavor of cinnamon and chile the next day, it was still no more than a vague aftertaste – not enough to overcome the awfulness of the texture. The brownies sat around for a couple of days, and every so often I tasted a tiny piece, hoping that this time, they would taste better. Perhaps it was something I ate right before the brownies that was throwing off the flavors, or maybe they just needed to sit a bit longer for the flavors to meld or become pronounced or something.

And then I had my own epiphany: Enough already. Enough imaginative recipes from groundbreaking and/or experimental and/or creative bakeries. I had an hour to make cookies for a friend and ended up wasting both my time and some perfectly good chocolate.

The universe seemed to agree with me. A day or so later, I stopped at the local thrift shop to hunt for a men’s shirt for a costume event, but since I had to pass the cookbook section on the way to the men’s department, I glanced at the books, and what should catch my eye but a hardcover copy of Beard On Bread, on sale for a dollar. I wonder who on earth would get rid of that; perhaps its the same people who like their brownies to be powder-textured. Whoever they are, they didn’t think much of James Beard at all: I found two more of his cookbooks (The New James Beard and James Beard’s New Fish Cookery), each for a dollar.

None of them seemed to have ever been used.

A day after that, the library emailed that a book on which I’d placed a hold some time ago was finally available: A reissue of the 1960 classic How America Eats, now retitled The Great American Cookbook, by Clementine Paddleford.

Who? you ask.

In the 1930’s, Clementine Paddleford set out to chronicle regional American cooking, traveling the country to find the best local cooks and talk them into sharing their recipes – at times, even piloting her own plane. The massive book includes recipes from all fifty states, set in the context of the people who shared them and the communities and cultures in which they lived. It’s a wonderful, engaging tome, and reading it feels a bit like having dinner with your favorite neighbor.

Most days, at the end of the day, I don’t really want a voyage of culinary discovery, I just want dinner. A good dinner, tasty and satisfying. Some days, it is bread and cheese and maybe some berries. Other days, a nice, simple casserole will work.

The first recipe I tried from Paddleford’s book was Popham Shrimp Casserole, a dish that originated in Charleston, a beautiful old city that, many years ago, I spent a week in, feasting on shrimp. I have fond memories of Charleston and its food: You cannot go wrong with Charleston shrimp.

And I didn’t.

The casserole’s ingredient list offers a hint as to why it is likely to be beloved by all: It’s loaded with butter, then topped with bacon and, yes, the rice does a lovely job of absorbing it all. The shrimp emerge from the oven in a mellow, buttery bath of sauce with just the right amount of kick from the red pepper.

I divided the original recipe in half, since it serves eight. It’s just enough for 3-4 people, especially if it was served with a salad and some good bread alongside. You could serve butter with the bread, if you like, though you’ll likely find your dinner is buttery enough.

There are a couple of things I will do differently, the next time I make this: I will get some standard-cut bacon, rather than the thick-cut I normally use in my cooking, which didn’t crisp up (and probably added more fat than needed, though I’m not complaining). Also, I used diced tomatoes, rather than crushed, as called for in the original recipe, but I think the final casserole would be saucier with crushed. I came up a bit short on tomatoes, too, since can sizes have gotten smaller since the recipe was originally published (the amount would be sixteen ounces if you’re feeling precise).

Still, I’d be completely happy to make this recipe again and again, exactly as I did the first time – it’s very forgiving, easy to make, and completely delicious. We’ll just forget about the calorie count, or maybe skip dessert.

I’m still hunting for the perfect cookie to make, worthy of sending to an old friend, so dessert will have to wait.

 

PophamShrimp2

Popham Shrimp Casserole
 
Print
Author: Clementine Paddleford, The Great American Cookbook
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
  • ¼ lb onions (about one medium), finely chopped
  • 1 15 ounce can crushed or finely diced tomatoes
  • 1 lb shrimp, peeled
  • ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • pinch mace
  • salt
  • 2 cups cooked white rice
  • 3-4 strips bacon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish and set aside.
  2. Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, red pepper flakes, mace, and salt, and simmer for a bit; then add the shrimp. Simmer until the shrimp is cooked through and sauce is reduced somewhat, about 15 minutes. Stir in the rice.
  3. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and arrange bacon strips on top. Bake about 25 minutes, until the rice mixture is bubbly and the bacon is crispy. Serve immediately, if not sooner.
Notes
The original recipe calls for "paprika" and since I have smoked paprika, that's what I used. Use whatever type you have handy. The original recipe also calls for simmering the shrimp in the pan for 30 minutes before baking it in the cassrole for another 25 minutes. This struck me as an inordinately long time to cook shrimp, so I reduced the simmering time to about 15 minutes; you may wish to reduce it further. Finally, I tend to keep very thick-sliced bacon around the house as I find it cooks better and adds better flavor to long-simmered dishes. In this case, it did not crisp up well and I'd recommend going with a regular thin-sliced bacon.
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and a recipe

 

 

Categories // The Joy of Cooking Tags // fish, shrimp

Hominy Grill Shrimp Burgers

11.27.2013 by J. Doe // 1 Comment

Not long after the Lodge meeting, I spend a day volunteering with my own club at an all-day genealogy fair; I help run a table for my lineage group,  meeting and greeting prospective members, and talking about genealogy. The Older Fellow stops by, appreciatively taking a list of prospective members we’ve collected for his club.

The weather outside is windy – so windy that one bridge is closed, and large numbers of homes lose power – but inside the exhibit hall it’s warm and friendly and there’s plenty of electricity to power everyone’s laptops and iPads. The ladies and I stay later than we should, but they have no power at home, so we find excuses to keep talking. It seems like business if there are laptops involved.

We pore over websites with lists of lineage societies and discuss which ones we are all eligible for. We agree we can all join a lot of them, but what’s the point of that? We search for the most unique one we can each join.

One of the ladies proudly proclaims her descent from a colonial witch, and shows us that society’s site. I make a mental note not to cross her.

I discover there’s a society for descendents of colonial tavernkeepers; you have to be 21 to join, because all their meetings take place in New England pubs. I’m eligible for this one, and we all agree their meetings are probably worth flying across the country to attend.

There’s a society for descendants of Royal Bastards, and we’re all eligible for this one.  What are the odds? I ask.

We discuss the odds. We wonder if there’s been a study about this. We google, and agree more research – and probably some math – is needed.

Eventually, we realize we’re among the last ones there, and The Child is texting me: Are you coming home soon? I’m hungry.

Driving home is a bit of a challenge –  branches and trees litter the roads, and many stoplights aren’t functioning. But when I get home, there’s power, and just exactly enough in the freezer to make dinner: Half a Costco bag of frozen shrimp, some cornbread, an egg. I found this recipe in the Washington Post Cookbook, and it seemed easy enough – just chop a few things, mix, and fry the resulting patties. I took a chance that The Child might eat these, because she does eat shrimp as well as crabcakes, and this seemed like a nice cross between the two. It turned out to be exactly that, and I liked how the slight sweetness of the cornbread complemented the shrimp. We served them with cornbread and honey on the side, but they’d be nice on a roll with some aioli. Or on top of a salad. Or as an appetizer. Or anything.

The Child helped herself to seconds, and I added the recipe to my permanent file.

 

Hominy Grill Shrimp Burgers

Hominy Grill Shrimp Burgers
 
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Author: Washington Post Cookbook
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 3 tbsp finely diced celery
  • 2 tbsp finely diced scallions
  • 1½ tsp minced lemon zest
  • 1 lb cooked, peeled shrimp
  • 3 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 cup cornbread crumbs
  • salt
  • pepper
  • Tabasco sauce
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
  1. Finely chop the shrimp, and add to a large mixing bowl with the celery, scallions, and lemon zest.
  2. Add the mayonnaise and cornbread crumbs, stirring to combine.
  3. Season with salt, pepper, and tabasco to taste; mix well.
  4. Add the egg and stir until well incorporated; the mixture should just barely hold together. Form 8 4-inch burgers.
  5. Cook the burgers in the oil, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned.
Notes
I chopped the shrimp by hand and the burgers were a bit chunky and fell apart more than I wanted. The recipe suggests pulsing half the shrimp in a food processor to vary the texture, and I think this might help them hold together.
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Categories // The Joy of Cooking Tags // fish, shrimp

Fettuccine in Pink Cream Sauce with Shrimp and Peas

07.08.2013 by J. Doe // 1 Comment

How does my garden grow? In spite of me, mostly.

Two months ago, the gardener finished my raised garden beds and I immediately began tossing things in: rows of seeds and plants from the nursery. My grandmother had quite the garden behind her house, which was her pride and joy; corn has never tasted quite the same since she died. I didn’t have any illusions about raising corn in my limited space – not this year anyway – but I was excited by all the possibilities. I would be overrun by zucchini! I would make fresh pesto and freeze it!

A basil plant was transplanted following a week of sun, which was promptly followed by a nice chill and two weeks of rain; the basil promptly drooped over in protest. The leaves curled up and turned a bit yellow.

My carrots and broccoli, they sprouted and then just sat there, steadfastly refusing to grow. My beets remained at the same height as when I transplanted them. As did the pumpkin plant. And the chard. And everything, in fact, except the spinach, which bolted. I got excited when it produced that pretty flower on the top, thinking, I’ve done it! Now I’ll have spinach! But when I looked up the next step on the internet, I discovered it was time to kiss the plant goodbye – at least, if I wanted edible spinach. I pulled it up and the roots were oddly small.

The peas, however, decided to grow, and although they surprised me by being a climbing plant (who knew?), I improved a trellis-teepee type of thing and to my amazement, they kept growing, when everything else did not.

I thought maybe the problem was that I had planted too many seedlings too close together, so I pulled out a few plants, and noticed that their roots, too, were oddly small. Maybe there had not been enough sun, I thought, or perhaps I needed to fertilize more. I printed out a calendar from Seattle Tilth on the optimal times to plant things in a Seattle garden.

Then I noticed that while two of my zucchini plants were fairly green and seemed to be doing pretty well, two of them were positively shrinking: Pale, yellowish leaves on plants less than half the size of their kin. I researched, and discovered there were two probable causes – overwatering, and underwatering.

I live in Seattle, so the answer was clear. I stopped watering – and two days later, everything perked right up.

And through it all, the peas continued their merry journey up my improvised trellis.

On Sunday, it looked like I had enough peas that I could make something out of them, and though I had a dozen recipes for various pasta-with-peas recipes, I chose this one from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, because it seemed like something that peas would be a nice addition to,  and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand. I modified the recipe, because it called for pureeing the shrimp, which may be good but involved more dishes than I wanted to contend with. The cream sauce is lovely, lightly flavored with the wine and tomato paste, but never overpowering the shrimp and peas, which are the stars of the show. It makes an easy meal but one that could be made special with a glass of white wine on the side.

I picked the peas, but The Child decided to shell them, and wouldn’t let  me help even though I offered several times.

Is this what you used to do at your grandmother’s house?

It is, I told her. My cousin and I would go out into the garden and get the vegetables for dinner while grandma worked in the kitchen.

It’s fun, she said.

I’d like to say I bit into those peas and they reminded me of grandma’s, but they didn’t – I doubt she ever made fettuccine or shrimp, and there was never wine in her house, ever. But like grandma, I somehow made something grow, and through my handful of peas, understood her pride.

fettucine and shrimp in pink sauce

 

Fettuccine in Pink Cream Sauce with Shrimp and Peas
 
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Author: adapted from Marcella Hazan
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • ½ pound medium shrimp, unshelled
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 1½ tbsp tomato paste
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • salt and pepper
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 lb fettucine
  • 1 cup fresh peas or defrosted frozen peas
Instructions
  1. Boil salted water to cook pasta. While making the sauce, cook the fettucine until al dente, adding the peas to the boiling water a few minutes before the pasta is done. Drain.
  2. Dissolve the tomato paste in the white wine.
  3. Put the olive oil and garlic in a large pan, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the garlic, stirring, until it is a pale gold, then add the tomato paste and wine solution. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
  4. Add the shrimp, salt, and pepper, and turn up the heat to medium high. Cook for two minutes or so, until shrimp are coated and cooked through (completely pink).
  5. Add the cream and cook for about a minute, stirring constantly.
  6. Toss the pasta and peas with the sauce, and serve immediately. If desired, garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
Notes
The original recipe calls for pureeing ⅔ of the cooked shrimp, then adding them back to the sauce. Pureed shrimp is not my thing, so that was the major change I made to this recipe. Hazan suggests using Tortellini with fish stuffing for the pasta; if tortellini is used, the recipe serves 6.
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Categories // The Joy of Cooking Tags // pasta, peas, shrimp

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