Pickled Shrimp

So the Holidays are officially over and 2012 is here, Happy New Year to you all and thank you for your continued support and kind comments!

Lorna and I did plenty of cooking while she was here which was so much fun, it was lovely to have the time together to try out some new things we’d discovered or been working on. It’s also a great time of year, not just for cooking, but for carrying on family traditions surrounding cooking. When we were growing up our Dad always served Christmas dinner at lunch time (of course) and then in the evening we’d have a cold buffet with roasted ham, shrimp, cheeses, pickles and leftovers from dinner like chicken and roast potatoes, it was always hard to decide which meal I enjoyed more. This year Lorna and I followed his tradition and made this recipe for the evening buffet. I usually reserve making this until I have a larger crowd coming over as I hate to have any wasted, but on Boxing Day I saw Lorna sneaking some leftovers into a salad which turned out to be delicious, so you could also make it for a smaller group and plan for a great lunch the next day.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before how much I love Frank Stitts cookbook Southern Table. I have many many cookbooks, and although they are beautiful to look at (very important to me) and seem to have great recipes, it’s often the case that nothing in them really catches my eye when I’m flipping through for dinner ideas. Frank’s book is different, I often find just what I’m looking for and more besides, so it’s no surprise that a while ago whilst trying to figure out something new to do as a party hors d’oeuvre I came across this recipe…

Pickled Shrimp
serves 8 to 12 as an hors d’oeuvre 

to cook the shrimp
1 onion quartered
1 celery stalk cut in chunks
1 lemon sliced
4 sprigs of flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon of kosher or sea salt
1.5 pounds of medium shrimp peeled

Put 8 cups of water in a large pot, add the onion, celery, lemon and parsley, bring it to the boil and then lower to a simmer for 20 minutes. Next add the salt and the shrimp and once the water returns to the very beginning of a simmer remove the pan from the heat, the water should not boil as it will make the shrimp tough – just look out for that first tiny bubble and then it’s done. Drain the shrimp but do NOT rinse as you’ll lose a lot of the flavor. Allow them to cool completely before pickling them.

to pickle the shrimp
1 medium onion, quartered and very thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves very thinly sliced
2 lemons thinly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
7 bay leaves
2 whole hot dried chili peppers
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1.5 pounds of cooked shrimp from above (completely cooled)

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and coat the shrimp throughly. Pack everything into a large glass jar (has to be glass and ideally sterilised), cover it tightly and put in the fridge overnight to allow all the flavors to develop. You can keep it in the fridge for about 3 days, but no longer than that. Once you’re ready for them tip them into a serving dish (do this about 10 minutes before they need to be out so the olive oil has chance to melt) and dive in! – Melani
[print_link]