It’s hot! Not as hot as some years, but I find the heat makes me cranky. I don’t think a word has been coined for hot and cranky – Hanky?
It sounds kind of insipid, and I think it’s already been taken. Oh well, hot and cranky, that’s me.
If you see me outdoors and my face is red, don’t even bother to say hello, I’m not responsible for my behavior. Inside, I’ll turn up the air conditioning and return to my usual happy self.
Not a lot of food appeals when it’s this hot. Salads work and, of course, ice cream, but you can’t eat ice cream for every meal, although I’d sure like to try it.
So that leaves me with salads and desserts. Chilled pie works and chilled shrimp and crab are delicious. In fact, now that I think on it, chilled shrimp salad was always a “must” at all of my summer parties in the past.
This is my favorite shrimp salad. You can add crabmeat to make it super luxurious. I like to serve it on a bed of chilled butter lettuce with toasted garlic bread.
Or you can mix it with torn romaine leaves to make it a proper salad. It’s less beautiful but makes it more of a meal.
Shrimp (and Crab) Salad: Boil 4 quarts water with 2 tbs. crab boil. Add a dash of baking soda to keep shrimp juicy and plump. Place 2 lb. deveined, tail off, shrimp in pot and simmer for 2-3 minutes until pink and opaque. Remove shrimp and place in ice water bath for 3 minutes. Drain.
In large bowl mix 1 cup Best Foods mayonnaise, 2 ribs finely chopped celery, 1 tbs. Dijon mustard, 2 tbs. chopped Dill, one clove grated garlic, 2 tbs. finely chopped red onion, ¼ tsp. Kosher salt, a pinch of ground black pepper, and the zest and juice of one lemon.
Add shrimp and stir until covered with dressing. You can add 8 ounces of jarred lump crabmeat at this point.
If serving as a salad tear up two heads of chilled romaine lettuce, add to mixture and stir. If serving as an entrée, place mixture on individual butter lettuce leaves. Serve with grilled garlic bread.
