Gulf Coast Delivery

 

My apologies. Sometimes (especially during the crazy month of April) I get lost in the swamp and it takes me some time to find my way back to where I'm supposed to be. ;-)

While I blow the pollen off my keyboard, I'm going to share with you all this piece (and a recipe)...

....simply because I'm hungry for some of my mother's home-fried shrimp.

*****

“They’re catching shrimp like crazy in the Gulf,” my friend told me the other day. “You want any?”

“How big are they?” I had to ask…just because.

“How much is he selling them for?” My pocketbook had to ask…just because.

“No! They’re beautiful. He’s got large for $3.75 lb and mixed for $3.00 even.”

“Yeah, I want some. Call me when he gets in with them and I’ll come meet y’all.”

By the time the shrimp came in, they were all sold out. My brother’s cast net was equally profitable and his freezer (and pocketbook) was very happy.

It took three more phone calls before I was able to cut in line get ahead of all the friends and acquaintances on the other end of the phone, get some shrimp iced down, and delivered to my kitchen.

There was plenty to share with the family. We donned aprons, chopped bags of ice to layer inside ice chests, and tolerated hand piercings and itchy thumbs in order to get our fill of the Gulf’s abundance. Our freezers were very grateful.

While peeling my shrimp, I couldn’t help but think of Pawpaw’s annual shrimp hunt and Mawmaw’s white porcelain sink filled with his harvest. Stacks of white plastic containers dated with a piece of tape and stacked neatly inside their chest freezer are forever labeled in my mind. My mother never fried shrimp other than those caught in Pawpaw’s cast net. Ever. I was fed on Gulf shrimp all my life. It was sacrilege to think of buying shrimp from anywhere other than Pawpaw’s freezer.

Naturally, as I bagged my little wares of fresh shrimp, I thought of all the Louisianans, past and present, who have leaned over kitchen sinks, peeling and de-heading and de-veining hundreds upon hundreds of slippery shrimp in order to feed their families: during good times and bad times, during war time and peace time, and during recent recessions and economical bounty.

After a couple of hours of pinching heads and tails off and unwrapping transparent life vests off these little swimmerets, my back was protesting and my kitchen smelt like high tide, but those clear freezer bags of fresh Gulf shrimp swam in peaceful slumber within my freezer.

* * * * *

Don't forget to enjoy the process as well as the meal as you make your Gulf Coast deliveries this summer.

 

Oma's Fried Shrimp

Have on hand:

• Shrimp
• Seasoning
• Oil
• Egg
• Pet milk
• Bisquick

Directions:

Soak shrimp in Pet milk and a beaten egg (for an hour or more, overnight if possible)

Heat cooking oil over medium heat.

Dip soaked shrimp in Bisquick batter and fry in oil until crisp and golden brown.

Make sure oil does not get too hot or shrimp will cook too quickly.

Pet milk and Bisquick make all the difference!