So Fresh Gazpacho with Avocado and Shrimp

Serves 4 

This soup is not spicy, but light and clean on the palate. Adding fresh corn, and cutting the vegetables into small dice gives great texture to this salsa style soup. The avocado and seasoned shrimp add another dimension of flavor. 

Soup:

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 cup fresh corn kernels

1 cup peeled, seeded cucumber, cut into small dice

¼ cup finely diced mixed green and red bell pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped red or spring onion

½ jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped, or to taste

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup peeled, seeded, chopped black or red tomatoes

1 ½ cups tomato juice

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

1-2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro, to taste

1 lime wedge

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Add 1 teaspoon of oil to a small skillet over medium high heat. Add corn and sauté until tender. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Set corn aside to cool.

In a large bowl, add the cucumber, bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato juice, cumin, chili powder, and cilantro together in a large bowl. Add the corn. Mix well.

Squeeze the lime wedge into the soup mixture, and add the 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. At this point, taste and adjust with seasonings if needed. If you need to add more cumin, chili powder, or salt then by all means adjust the recipe to your taste. Chill for at least 2 hours so that flavors can blend. Garnish with shrimp, avocado and cilantro.

Shrimp Garnish:

4-8 medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

Dash of salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large, ripe avocado

Cilantro

Shrimp: Just before serving the soup, make a small mixture of 1 tablespoon chili powder and 1 tablespoon cumin with a dash of salt. Dip the shrimp into the mixture and fry in 1 tablespoon olive oil until pink and cooked through.

When ready to serve: Divide the soup into 4 (1-cup) servings. Peel the avocado and cut into small chunks. Divide avocado into 4 portions and add to top of the soup. Add one or two cooked shrimp to the top of each avocado, top with a sprig of cilantro. Serve chilled.

(I created this recipe for the PBS Television show website, Garden Smart, in 2011)

Baked Ham with Mustard-Brown Sugar Glaze

I’m been making this same delicious ham recipe for more years than I can count. It’s so simple and easy. Choose any size ham you want. Follow directions on the package for cooking time based on the size of the ham.

Now, this is what I do. Cut off the thin layer of skin or fat from the ham. Score if you like. Put the ham in a large baking pan. Pour the juice from one large can of pineapple over the ham, and cover the ham with foil. Place in a 350 degree oven. Make a paste of brown sugar and yellow or spicy brown mustard. About and hour prior to the ham being done, coat with the paste. Add pineapple, and cherries studded with cloves around the ham. Put the ham back in the oven and every 15 minutes, baste the ham and pineapple with the mixture surrounding the ham. This mixture will cook down as the ham cooks and will get thicker and thicker and just make this ham more delicious.

Come Spring….Creamed Potatoes & English Peas

(My mother’s silver serving dish)

Oh Glory, my mother made the most delicious creamed potatoes and English peas. Come spring, when the peas were ready, we were too and could not wait for Sunday dinner because we knew this would be on the table.

In anticipation of making this favorite dish, I went out to a local farm a few days ago and picked fresh peas. I sat on my porch that same afternoon and shelled them. Today, I have finally made a recipe for the potatoes and peas that mother would be proud of. The difference in this recipe and her recipe is the potatoes. She would have used fresh new potatoes that she had cut a band around, whereas I have used Yukon Gold that I cut into cubes.

I hope that you will enjoy the creamed potatoes and peas as much as I have over the years.

Recipe:

3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 cups fresh English or small green peas

1/4 cup butter

1/4 flour

2 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

green onions, thinly sliced, including stems

Cook potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain. Cook peas in boiling salted water until just ready to change color, drain. Make the cream sauce by melting butter in a large skillet. Add flour, whisking until smooth, and cook for about two minutes. Do not brown flour. Gradually whisk in the milk and cream. Cook over low heat while whisking. When thickened, add the cooked potatoes and peas, as well as the 2 teaspoons salt(or to taste). Mix well. Put into a serving dish and add sliced green onions to the top. Serves 6.

My Apple Pie

This is another one of those recipes that I’ve been making for many years. There is not much else I can say other than this is a good apple pie. I promise!

 I used store bought crusts, cut the top crust into strips and twisted it for a lattice effect.

Recipe:

1 (15-ounce) package ready made pie crust

8 cups of peeled, thinly sliced apples

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Dash of salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place one pie crust into a 9 or 10-inch, deep dish pie plate. In a large bowl, add the apples, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice. Mix well and pour the apples into the pie crust. Roll out the second pie crust and cut into thin strips. Twist the strips and place them on top of the pie going across one way and then the next for a lattice effect. Use any leftover dough to roll out, cut into strips, twist and go around the inside edge of the pie crust. This will help anchor the lattice strips. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the pie is bubbly and the apples are tender. Check for tenderness of the apples with a small knife or skewer. If there is any resistance, keep cooking the pie. If the crust starts to get dark, cover it with foil. Cool before slicing.