Shrimp is the most popular shellfish in the United States. Luckily, it is available year-round. It is a popular ingredient in appetizers, salads, chowders and as a main dish.
The word shrimp comes from the Middle English shrimpe, or”pygmy” or a reference to the crustacean.
Since the 7th century, shrimp and other seafood composed the majority of the Chinese diet, and it remains popular there today.
Harvesting of shrimp in the United States dates back to the 17th century, when Louisiana bayou inhabitants used seines to bring up the delicacy.
Today, the United States harvests over 650 million pounds a year, more than any other country. The Gulf of Mexico offers some of the finest varieties of the small shelled creature with shrimp fleets occupying harbors all along the West Coast of Florida, across southern Alabama and Mississippi and into the bayous of Louisiana near New Orleans.
Shrimp bisque
20 medium-size shrimp cut into small pieces
1 can evaporated
milk
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 4-ounce cantomato paste
1 teaspoon corn
starch
1/2 teaspoon sugar
6 dashes nutmeg
Black pepper to taste
Saute shrimp in butter on low heat. Add milk, corn starch and spices. Do not boil.With a wooden spoon, stir in tomato paste until smooth. Add sour cream and again stir until smooth. Serves eight. Serve hot with soda crackers and sandwich for lunch.
A delicious soup for cold days, anytime
Easy-to-grow herbs will enhance your favorite dishes
Basil:
This annual is the perfect companion for dishes that include tomatoes. Trim the stems, leaves and flowers to make the plant more productive.
Chives: A perennial, it adds flavor to soups, fish and potatoes. Snip the entire stem if you remove a flower bud.
Parsley: It grows for two years and adds flavor and color to fish and other dishes. Clip flower buds when they appear in the second year. Likes a sunny location, says Patricia Lanza, author of Lasagna Gardening with Herbs.
Rosemary: A perennial, but it doesn’t like cold climes and may not appear there after the first year. Its stems add flavor to vinegar or olive oil. Leaves are great in lamb dishes and sauces. Don’t overwater the plant.
Sage: Used as a seasoning for meats, sauces, stuffings and soups. Hummingbirds like the plant’s flowers.
Thyme: A perennial herb, it is good for seasoning chowders and soups. It will grow in rock gardens .
Healthy shrimp in Remoulade Sauce
Although Remoulade sauce has its origins in Europe, it has been a classic taste of New Orleans since the early beginnings of fine dining in the Crescent City. It can vary in ingredients but two of the classic versions are those served at Arnaud’s and Emeril’s Delmonico.
It was said to be introduced to the Big Easy by Count Arnaud Chezenave when he opened his restaurant in the French Quarter in 1916.
Honey baked shrimp
1 pound
jumbo shrimp
(thawed)
1/2 tablespoon
reduced-sodium
soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons
Texas Pete pepper
sauce
2 cups finely crushed corn flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons
grated orange zest
1/2 cup honey
In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients, except the corn flakes and honey, and stir thoroughly. Put the mixture in a large zip-lock bag, add the shrimp and put the bag in the refrigerator for two to four hours to marinate.
Put the corn flakes in a wide shallow bowl and the honey in a small separate bowl. Dip the marinated shrimp in the honey, then roll them in the corn flakes for an even coating.
Place them in a baking pan or on a sheet and bake them at 425 degrees until crisp and slightly brown.
Remoulade sauce
1/2 cup
Creole mustard
1/2 cup horseradish
1/4 cup
finely chopped
yellow onion
1/4 cup of chives
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons
Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon of garlic
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Mix and chill before serving.
Vegetarians have noble companions in history
If your philosophical or nutritional philosophies run to vegetarianism, you are in good company.
Philosophers, prophets, reformers and leaders of all types have been vegetarians, a practice that, in the East, traces its roots back to ancient Hindu teachers, and the west claims leaders such as the Greek philosopher Pythagoras (580-500 B.C.).
According to Vegetarian Times magazine, the philosophical heirs of Pythagoras include Plutarch (46-119 A.D.), author of On the Eating of Animal Flesh; French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778); and children’s entertainer and educator Fred “Mr.” Rogers.
In 1813, British Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley influenced a many generations of writers and artists when he wrote A Vindication of Natural Diet, defending vegetarianism on ethical and health grounds. Among his converts were George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright, who said he was a “cannibal” before discovering Shelley.
In America, Sylvester Graham (1794-1851) preached his “Graham Diet,” of whole wheat bread and no meat that attracted flocks of free thinkers including Quaker anti-slavery activist Abbey Kelley called, in her own time, “the moral Joan of Arc of the world.” Other converts included newspaperman Horace Greeley and Cereal magnate John Harvey Kellogg.
At the turn of the century spiritual leaders and ethical crusaders led the vegetarian movement. Ellen G. White (1827-1915), founder of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948), the Indian spiritual leader, went on to influence generations of political and spiritually-minded people.
During about the same period Henry S. Salt (1851-1939) led the late 19th Century British anti-vivisectionists. His intellectual heirs include Peter Singer, animal liberationist.
The art and manners of taking tea
The art of taking tea brews up 5,000 years of tradition
In 2737 BC Divine Healer and Second Emperor of China Shen Nung discovered tea. More precisely, cha, as it is known throughout the world, was revealed to him by the forces of creation.
Much might be expected from an herb with such divine and ancient origins. Tea, and the taking of it, does not let one down in that regard. Indeed, according to Jason Goodwin, author of A Time For Tea, cha is the subject of immense lore.
As might be expected the Chinese studied, revered and refined tea, distinguishing between preferred mountain or high-grown teas (yen cha) and low grown teas.
Teas have had special purposes throughout history, some used as currency and tribute, others for royal use only. The Chinese have given their teas lovely names: Buddha Hand, Clear Fragrance, Kung-fu tea, Great White, Black Heap, Great Red Robe (a tea so wonderful an emperor was said to have removed his red robe in order to climb higher and pick more.)
Taoist priests used tea, Goodwin writes, as an ingredient in their elixir of immortality. The first Englishman to possess and promote tea, Thomas Garaway wrote in 1658 that tea would cure up to 24 disabilities.
Indeed, during its 5,000 year history, tea has earned a place in the ritual of nearly every culture. According to Margaret Visser, author of The Rituals of Dinner, Arabs express their generosity by pouring tea until it slops over the saucer, while Europeans take any spill as a breach of etiquette.
In China, at dinner, one never pours tea only for one’s self. Every diner must offer to pour tea for the people near him.
In Japan, the ancient tea ceremony defines the sensibilities of the entire culture. The host pays extraordinary attention to the setting for the ceremony, the choice of utensils, his own garment and the flow of solitude and company during the ritual drinking of tea.