Shrimp Bloody Mary Style

Since before I was born, I traveled often to both Connecticut and Ohio. The two states where my Dad's Navy buddies and their family's live. My dad, Paul and Bill became life long friends and as a result so did the wives and children of the three families.

This weekend I was lucky enough to get together with the girls (the daughters) from Connecticut along with my sister for some catching up...5 girls chatting away, no wonder the hosting husband ducked out immediately following dinner. One second he was there, then poof! He was gone lol!  

Lucky for us Chip grilled us some amazing fresh water salmon (he caught) along with some incredible grilled veggies before he ran for cover!

I grew up in Philadelphia and I loved it, however, one of my favorite parts of my childhood were they many trips to both Connecticut and Ohio.  My siblings and I were able to experience a completely different way of life.  The same was said for the other families when they came our way.

When we were in Connecticut, my siblings and I (there are five of us) would try to wake up the earliest to be the one would go fetch the freshly laid eggs.  I always thought it was such an amazing thing to reach under a chicken and pull out a warm fresh egg. In my opinion, every child needs to experience that at least once in their young life. Then we would run around feeding the sheep, pigs, chickens, cats, dogs and whatever else was around that visit.

We ran amuck, scouring the woods for bones of who knows what to bring back home for show and tell, telling tall tales to our friends and best of all we thought we were in Heaven because not only did they have a penny candy store in their small town – but you could get MONEY TO BUY CANDY from old cans and bottles – MONEY FOR TRASH...AND IT GOT YOU CANDY!!!

That always blew our little minds - that's not how our home state treats "trash".

Dinner was often "running around" 2 hours before we ate it.

I was always cautious about what I was eating. “Are you sure this is chicken” I would say when I would see knowing glances passing between the parents.

When offered deer pepperoni I would get a bit woozy, when they raised a pig for us…I never went to see it…how after all could I eat “Wilbur” or whomever, if we were buddies - I am a city girl after all.

I have vivid memories of eating chicken that was the color of a piece of white paper, not yellowish like we would get from our supermarket. I remember just eating and eating that chicken...it felt like I couldn't get full, it was SO delicious, what a difference! Somehow our friends lived simply yet sophisticated.

Well, this weekend we had incredible food, fantastic cocktails, wine and a all out great time! One dish I brought was Shrimp prepared Bloody Mary Style, served on endive. The endive is wonderfully peppery and they kick from the shrimp – wow! This is an app you can’t stop eating and one of my all-time favorites!


Bloody Mary Shrimp

2 pounds of large cooked shrimp, cut into chunks
3 celery ribs diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup of scallions, thinly sliced
5 good sized endives (also known as chicory)

Sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup ice cold vodka
1/4 cup lemon juice
2-3 TBS horseradish, to your taste (I only use Kelchner's - the best)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
5-6 dashes Tabasco

Combine shrimp chunks, celery and scallions in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine all sauce ingredients stir until well incorporated.
Pour over shrimp mixture. Mix well.

Slowly separate endives, slice a bit off of the core as you break each stalk off. The endive spears will get smaller and smaller. Place them on a serving platter. When ready to serve fill each with a bit of the mixture.

Did you know...Endive is a great source of Folate, fiber and vitamins A and K...eat up!

Enjoy!