"The Black Family Reunion Cookbook" - Part 2

It's that Thyme again! The cover of the "The Black Family Reunion Cookbook" has a quote "Strong families and good cooking often go hand-in-hand. This book is a celebration of both." I love this quote but I might add strong families and great friends. For the next recipes I enlisted the help of a very dear friend. Not only do I enjoy cooking, I enjoy cooking with friends and family. Since I don't take the term chef lightly, I would say that I had an excellent Sous Cook helping me in the kitchen. The menu consisted of Shrimp Curry (p. 138), Basmati Rice, and Buttermilk Hush Puppies (p.28).

I always have to put a different spin on my recipes, so this is "Shrimp Curry" remixed. I used 1 pound extra large shrimp, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of cracked pepper. Place shrimp in a non-metal container and pour these ingredients over and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Heat oil in a large skillet, I prefer to use a more flavorful oil so I used 1 Tbsp grapeseed oil and 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil. I couldn't resist but I had some fresh churned butter from the Amish Market, so I added 1 Tbsp as well. I added a green pepper (from my own garden), 1/2 yellow onion, and 5 scallions and sauteed. I stirred in 2 Tbsp curry powder. Although the recipe called for 1/2 cup water, I added 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup dry white wine. Simmer for 15 minutes and then add shrimp. Cook for an additional 15 minutes. This is a very quick recipe, but it is full of flavor.

For the buttermilk hush puppies, I allowed my Sous Cook to prepare this with my supervision. And might I say they did an excellent job. We combined 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Combine these ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup buttermilk, we used fat-free. It seems to be the only kind of buttermilk available in stores. My view is that when you use buttermilk, you aren't really concerned about fat, but I could be wrong. Stir in 1 egg, beaten (from my farm trip) and 1/4 cup finely chopped onions. We fried our hush puppies in corn oil. They were delicious.

This meal was excellent! The best part is enjoying the meal with a friend. The food was excellent and the company wasn't so bad either.