Bookclub weekend; so worked out a new recipe for Pickled Shrimp

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Since our bookclub was reading the Elementals and I wanted somethings with a water-based, southern flair, I remembered that I had a copy of  Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking,  which a friend had given me last xmas. So while reviewing it, I saw the Pickled Shrimp one and thought perfect! You can his actual recipe here

For my version – I followed it pretty true with a few adaptions

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon salt (I used kosher salt)
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of good quality infused oil
  • 1/4 cup of good quality infused lemon oil
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (his recipe used less.. but I wanted the bite)
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon of celery salt
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 pounds shrimp (Since this was a small group – I went with the medium-large pre-cooked which yielded about 40 ( his recipe recommends small to medium (45 to 50 per pound), cooked and peeled). I purchased mine cooked, but you could get fresh, boil then peel. But leave the tails on.
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced (about ½ cup)img_4436
  • 25 to 30 bay leaves (fresh not dried)

Had I a few more days to think about it – I would have addd some fresh fennel tips  to it as well.

  • img_4442Making it
    Cut the online into thin slices
  • Mix the wet ingredients, add the seeds and powdered ones, then the garlic, whisk in a small bowl
  • Essentially – its pretty easy to assemble, most recipes use a glass jar – which looks great and perfect as a gift, ju
    st make sure it is sterilized if you plan to keep it for more than a few days. Otherwise my trusty lock-n-lock did the job just fine.   Layer the shrimp, bay leaves and thin sliced onions, then repeat until you have it all in. Then cover with the mixture and refrigerate for 18-24 hours (but I checked mine at 12 hours and they were pretty good too). They should keep for several days and just get more pickled.  As long as they are covered oil, they should keep for week over a week. img_4440

To fancy up the serving of it; I used some shells I picked up in Provincetown and to carry over the “sand” theme from the book; I used plain old Progresso bread crumbs.