Category: pickled foods
Scratch-Made Fire & Ice (Dilled) Pickled Peppers
| August 7, 2019 | Posted by Wendy Perry under appetizers, cook & eat nekkid, garden goodness, gluten free, pickled foods, published |
Many of us have made traditional “fire and ice” pickles using store-bought dill pickles. Our twist is a fast way to use those summer peppers that seem to come from every which way all at once … no processing, just refrigerate, eat and share. This recipe doesn’t require exact amounts, so you can make brine and use any amount of peppers (or other vegetables) you have.
Bouge Sound Watermelons… summer’s juicy sweet candy!
Learn why Bogue Sound Watermelons are in a league of their own… brightest of reds, super sweet and juicy! It ain’t about the melon.
Sweet n’Hot Watermelon Rind Pepper Relish
Don’t throw out that watermelon rind! It won’t take long for you to cook up a batch of this delicious Sweet n’Hot Watermelon Rind Pepper Relish!.. soooo good on just about everything!
ahhh Collard Sandwiches… North Carolina culinary Heritage at its finest!
Collard Sandwiches have a long history here in North Carolina. They are so tasty, feature some of our finest foods… and you will be the belle of the ball when you take to potlucks or serve at your own gatherings. Just MAKE SOME. It doesn’t get much easier. Sit some out and watch ’em disappear
Beat the heat with this Green & Gold Okra Summer Salad! No cook’n here….
Published in Carolina Country Magazine Summer 2018
Well I don’t know about where you are, but here in Eastern North Carolina, we’re in the middle of a ridiculous heat wave…. too bad it can’t melt fat off our bodies like heat melts fat in my cast iron fry’n pan! I saw this cute little what-cha-majig recently and just had to have it! I’m not one for dust collectors, but this one makes me giggle! And who doesn’t need more giggles in their life? My body has been doing a lot of “crying” this past week. Not because of being OUT in the heat, but mostly from hearing the cha-ching of the AC running nearly non-$top INside!
Okra is every which way these days, so today, because there’s not much cooking going on, I wanted to share with y’all this okra salad I first made several years ago in a cooking class at Savory Spice Shop in Raleigh…. my toy store! If’n you have a Savory near you and haven’t been there, and do any sort of cooking at any point in time…. I order you to GO THERE! (Check out their nationwide store locator.) Even if your bought food just needs some spiff’n up, go there. When Bob and Cindy Jones opened their store years back, I high tailed it right on over there, and we’ve been buddies since day one. I used to buy those “other” spices (that start with a P)…. but the assortment at Savory is IT. And you can purchase in tiny amounts, or by the boatload! Lots of area chefs and competition (barbecue) cooks create their secrets from Savory. They are always bringing in new herbs and spices from around the globe… and new blends…. and I especially love all their salt free ones.… like I use in this salad. They have lists of all sorts of their blends with no garlic, no onion, no this or that, etc. (See all that on the left margin of link.) Something for all!
At my class, there were about 15 or so “Yankees.” When I said the word “okra” I saw these blank stares across the board…. and might have heard a few signs of disgust. Bless their hearts, they didn’t grow up eating this mostly-southern green garden candy like we did….. and probably only saw it boiled and slimy… although we true Southerners do love it that way too… and fried, and roasted, and grilled…. and pickled! As a matter of fact, my first okra memories were eating it that way…. slimy! My Mama Hocutt would boil the hell out of it, drain it, and put in some butter… and me and Daddy Hocutt would pull those seeds out of the slimy pods through our teeth and then eat the pods…. together, me and him! He died when I was 8, but I remember eating “stewed okra” as she called it, with him, like it was yesterday!
OK…. so back to the salad! My salad is published in the current August issue of Carolina Country magazine... I had to tweak it a bit from my original version to make it more generic since not everybody across North Carolina that gets the magazine has access to a Savory (although there are 4 Savory’s in NC and you can also shop online!)…. nor my friend Paige’s Yah’s Best products and her Summer Mango Salsa I used in the class… available in lots of places across NC!
Yah’s Best Summer Mango Salsa!
So here’s the generic recipe, with notes on how to make my original version…. with Savory’s Salt-Free Summit County Seasoning (one of my faves there) and Yah’s Summer Mango Salsa! I do hope you will try it and come back to let me know what you think…. and one note, it’s best if you eat it shortly after making it…. especially if you don’t like the “slime” factor. It’s good overnight, but some of that starts showing up…. so without further blabbering…. here you go!
We are all used to stewing and frying okra, but surprise your guests with this delightfully different way to enjoy a Southern summertime favorite... RAW... in a fresh salad! You will find 2 versions below.... my original version created several years ago for a (non) cooking class and this newer more generic version for the magazine.... for folks who don't have access to Yah's Best Summer Mango Salsa and Summit County Spice Blend from Savory Spice Shop. Make one or the other, or take parts and pieces from each to make your own version. Either way, it's just damn good.
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- juice and zest 1 lime
- 3 large mangos
- 1 small sweet onion peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 cups white seedless grapes halved
- 1-2 cups mild green and gold peppers seeded and sliced
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 quarts okra sliced in 1/2" pieces shortly before serving time
- 1 large jalapeno optional
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Combine vinegar, sugar, pepper, lime juice and zest. Whisk together and let stand while making salad.
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Combine mango, onion, grapes and sweet mild peppers. You can make the salad up to this point ahead of time and keep refrigerated several hours.
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When ready to serve, toss cilantro and fresh-sliced okra (in ½" pieces) into mango mixture. Stir well and garnish with jalapeno slices.
If you would like to make my original version.... do this:
To the cut up okra, add in 1 pint carton of Yah's Best Summer Mango Salad and 1-2 tablespoons of Savory Spice Shop's Summit County Seasoning! That's it....
It's just fresh sweet and savory summer in your mouth!
Y’all keep cool wherever you are… and feed your fat some of this crispy salad so maybe it will stop cry’n!
my almost famous “Pickled” Pickled Shrimp and Eastern NC Cotton Honey-Mustard Slaw
Happy July y’all…. the world’s slowwwwest blogger dropping by! I’m gonna be ramping things up (yes, I know I’ve said THAT before!) since I’ve been doing so many shindigs lately and have lots of NEKKIDness to share… plus, I’ve been getting requests from clients and their guests for recipes. I don’t keep many recipe secrets and am always happy to share (most), so feel free to ask for others anytime… happy to oblige.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a fun afternoon in the kitchen with a fun family celebrating a high school graduation. Instead of going out to a noisy restaurant to celebrate this momentous event, they decided to have an intimate afternoon and supper at home. They enjoyed playing board games, Wi and other fun stuff. Dad, who hired me, had put together a really special video with snippets of all the important folks in his daughter’s life. I didn’t even know these folks, but that was so heart-warming to see well wishes from around the globe… but I think perhaps most touching were the words of wisdom from her little-bit-older-but-VERY WISE sister. She is one smart cookie! They have an ”international” family of Germans and Japanese… (who says I can’t come up with a crowd pleasing menu?)…. and it warmed my heart to be there in the open kitchen putting together their dee-lish Nekkid Supper while seeing them enjoy each other’s company on this special day!
This is the menu created for their casual family-style meal…
“Pickled” Pickled Shrimp (recipe below)
Toastettes topped with a dollop of Greensboro’s
My Three Sons Pimiento Cheese garnished with fresh chive from my garden and topped with a dollop of cherry preserves
Eastern North Carolina Cotton Honey-Mustard Slaw (recipe below)
As requested, REALLLY Cheesey Taters... so I made some…
“The Bestest Cheesyest au gratin ‘taters EVER!” …
with Gruyere, Jarlsberg, and Fontina topped with Asagio!
(AMAZING and I think the BEST I’ve ever made!!!)
“Crispy Toastettes with Honey Carrot Butter”
Skillet Seared Beef Tenderloin Medallions with sides of
“Mushroom Menagerie Marsala Gravy” along with
Whipped Horseradish Cream, and…
Fresh herbed chicken tenderloins
…sauteed in browned butter
Dessert was left warm in the oven… an ooey gooey Chocolate Pudding Cake!
I hope you’ll enjoy, and call me if you’d like to enjoy life’s celebrations at home instead of out in a busy…loud and noisy… impersonal restaurant! We can even do an interactive party if you wanna roll up your sleeves and throw-cook with me!
Wendy’s Almost Famous “Pickled” Pickled Shrimp!
What to throw together...
- about 2 lbs. jumbo sweet North Carolina Shrimp, peeled/de-viened with tail on
- 1 jar NC's Mt. Olive Sweet 'n Hot Pickled Peppers WITH juice
- 1 pint jar Pierce Foods Watermelon Rind Pickles WITH juice
- 1 pint jar Pierce Foods Okra Pickles, DRAINED
How to throw together...
- Cook Shrimp. I prefer to steam in microwave or stove top vs. boiling as steaming keeps the good flavor and nutrients IN the shrimp instead of boiling them out into the water!
- Place cooked shrimp into non-reactive container. Pour peppers with juice, watermelon rind pickles with juice and DRAINED okra pickles over shrimp. Toss well. Refrigerate and chill. I like to do this a minimum of 8 hours before serving for the juices to "pickle" the shrimp and get nice and cold.
- Pierce Foods is a shop I frequent at the Raleigh Farmers' Market. If you go by there, tell Mr. Pierce I sent you. If not in this area, you can sub any similar products, but try to buy LOCAL and from your area farmers' market too!
Notes
Don't be alarmed with the color change to a yellowish tint. That simply means the pickle juices are "pickling" the shrimp just as you want to happen!
The reason I drain the okra pickles is because that juice is twangy and I want my pickled shrimp to be sweet.
What to throw together...
- Cabbage and/or other similar greens
- turnips
- carrots
- jicama
- any kinds of radishes
- spring onions-red onion-sweet onions…any sorts of onions or combination
- cilantro
- and any other nekkid veggies you'd like!
How to throw together...
- A variety of cuts makes this slaw pretty and far from boring. I thinly slice cabbage into ribbons... cut turnips into matchsticks, make long wide shreds of carrots using a vegetable peeler, slice/dice radishes and throw in thinly sliced red onions and chopped green onions (white and green parts).
- Just at serving time, throw in a heap'n help'n of chopped cilantro. This not only gives the slaw a pretty and vibrant punch of green, but throws in one more level of flavor... and THAT is rarely not a good thang!
Notes
The fun thing about this slaw is it can be whatever you want it to be... and can throw in any old things you wanna. If you have some of these nekkid ingredients on hand but not others, fix it anyway. This is a great way to clean out that produce drawer with those tidbits of this and that... not enough on its own, but perfect with thrown together with sister veggies.
Wouldn’t you love to make memories around your supper table at home… instead of a noisy restaurant with strangers?
It was my pleasure Robert… thanks to you and your happy family!!
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