New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp comes to us from Southern Living’s 2009 All-Time Favorites. You do not need to fire up your grill for this recipe. Fix it in the comfort of your own kitchen, bake it in your oven, turn it just one time. It makes enough for eight people! 

Mark F. Sohn wrote Hearty Country Cooking, a James Beard Award nominee. This book is full of wonderful recipes of Appalachian foods. And while not Florida recipes, they contain ingredients that many of us love using because they are easily obtainable and healthful ingredients that most of us enjoy eating and find valuable in our everyday regimen. His recipe for Summer Garden Vegetable Soup is a snap. Add some hot biscuits (see below) or cornbread, and ring the dinner bell! Note: I find that skins easily come off tomatoes more quickly than 10 minutes; probably three to five minutes, if that. 

We have Mrs. Meggett’s Biscuits from Scratch from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking. She says, “Biscuits take practice, so if the texture isn’t right on the first try, try it again. When you’re rolling the biscuit dough, don’t fool with the dough too much. It will make them come out tough. You want to mix and roll the dough just enough so it’s combined, but not overly prepped. The number of biscuits from this recipe depends on the size of the cutter (18 to 20 for a small cutter, 9 or 10 for a large cutter).” 

Emily Meggett says in her book Gullah Geechee Home Cooking (which my beloved sister, Isabel, gifted me for my birthday a few years ago), “I was a Black woman who was born and raised on a beautiful Sea Island called Edisto Island. But I went to school, and somebody told me that I was Geechee!” She goes on at length and tells a lovely story about her life. Her recipe for Peach Pie is below. 

If you want to master the secret of perfect pie crust, Mrs. Meggett says, “This pie crust works for any of my pies. Most of my pies require one layer of crust for the bottom and one for the top, but like I say, you cook to your taste. When making a pie crust, you always want to use all-purpose flour for the dough because self-rising flour will make the dough too thick. Give this recipe a couple of tries, and you’ll be surprised at how quickly you become a pie crust expert!” 

NEW ORLEANS BARBECUE SHRIMP 
Recipe from Southern Living’s 2009 All-Time Favorites 

INGREDIENTS: 
4 pounds unpeeled, large raw shrimp or 6 pounds shrimp with heads on 
1/2 cup butter 
1/2 cup olive oil 
1/4 cup chili sauce 
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 
2 lemons, sliced 
4 garlic cloves, chopped 
2 tablespoons Creole seasoning 
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
1 teaspoon paprika 
1 teaspoon dried oregano 
1 teaspoon ground red pepper 
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce 

DIRECTIONS:  
1) Spread shrimp in a shallow aluminum foil-lined broiler pan. 2) Combine butter and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until butter melts; pour over shrimp. Cover and chill 2 hours, turning shrimp every 30 minutes. 3) Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, turning shrimp once. Serve with French bread. 

Makes 8 servings. 

Notes:  Offer plenty of napkins, paper towels, or, if you have them, bibs. (If you don’t like getting your hands dirty when you eat, this isn’t the dish for you.) Leftover shrimp keep well in the refrigerator for a day or two. Be careful not to overcook them when reheating. 

MARK SOHN’S SUMMER GARDEN VEGETABLE SOUP 
Hearty Country Cooking 

INGREDIENTS: 
2 cups elbow macaroni or small shells 
2 pounds fresh tomatoes, cooked, skin removed 
1 cup water 
2 cups fresh pole beans, cut in 1/2-inch pieces 
2 cups fresh kernel corn 
1 pound (3 cups) diced summer squash, yellow or zucchini 
1 cup diced onion 
1 cup green or red bell pepper 
2 teaspoons salt 
3/4 teaspoon pepper 

DIRECTIONS:  
1) Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain, rinse, cover, and keep warm. 2) Boil the tomatoes in the water for 10 minutes. Pull the skins off. 3) In a large pot over medium heat, bring the tomatoes and water to a boil. Add the beans, and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the corn, squash, and onion. Simmer another 8 minutes. Add the bell pepper, salt, and pepper. Stir well, remove from heat. 4) Serve hot or cold, and topped with the macaroni. We serve this soup with Skillet Corn Bread or saltine crackers and a slice of raw sweet onion. 

Note: Healthy choice alternative: Except for the salt, which you can omit if you have to, this soup is just what the doctor ordered. 

EMILY MEGGETT’S BISCUITS FROM SCRATCH 
Recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by Emily Meggett 

INGREDIENTS: 
1 cup Crisco shortening 
1 large egg 
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar, plus more to taste 
1-1/2 cups milk, whole or 2 percent 
3-1/3 cups self-rising flour, preferably White Lily, plus more as needed, plus 1 cup for the counter and shaping 

DIRECTIONS:  
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 2) In a mixing bowl, using a spoon, mix together the Crisco, egg, and sugar until smooth. Add sugar according to desired sweetness. 3) Stir in the milk until the Crisco mixture is broken up a bit, then stir in the 3-1/2 cups flour. Mix until just combined. 4) Use the remaining flour for dusting the countertop, biscuit cutter, and dough. Sprinkle 1/3 cup evenly onto the countertop where the biscuits will be rolled out. Scrape the dough onto the flour, then sprinkle 1/3 cup on top of the dough so it will not stick to your hands. Pat the dough with your palms into a slab about 3/4 inch thick. Put 1/3 cup flour in a small bowl or a pile on the side to dip the biscuit cutter into. 5) Dip a biscuit cutter or the top of a small cup into flour. Cut biscuits and place on ungreased cookie sheets, leaving just a bit of dough between each cut (Use a metal spatula to transfer the biscuits to the cookie sheets, if necessary. They will be very delicate.). 6) Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. 

EMILY MEGGETT’S PEACH PIE 
Recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by Emily Meggett 

INGREDIENTS: 
6 peaches (about 2 pounds), peeled, pitted, and sliced 
3/4 cup granulated or 
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 
Juice from 1/2 lemon 
Unbaked pie crust dough, one half of the dough used to line a 9-inch pie dish, one half rolled out for the top crust 

DIRECTIONS:  
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 2) Put the peaches in a mixing bowl with the sugar, butter, flour, and lemon juice. Stir until the peaches are covered. 3) Transfer to the unbaked pie crust. Cover the top with pie crust and pinch the pie crusts together around the rim to seal. With a fork or toothpick, punch a few holes in the top pie crust. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling. 

EMILY MEGGETT’S PIE CRUST 
Recipe from Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by Emily Meggett 

INGREDIENTS: 
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus about 1/2 cup for the countertop 
1-1/2 teaspoons salt 
3 heaping tablespoons Crisco shortening 
7 tablespoons ice-cold water, plus more if needed 

DIRECTIONS:  
1) In a mixing bowl, combine the 1-1/2 cups flour and the salt. 2) With a knife, cut the Crisco into the flour until it is a little lumpy. 3) Add the cold water by the tablespoon. Mix until the dough holds together. If needed, add more water by the teaspoon. Careful… the dough should not be too wet or get stuck to your hands. Do not overwork the dough or it will become stiff. 4) Sprinkle 1/2-cup flour on the countertop. Take the dough and work it on the floured area. Separate the dough into two balls. 5) Roll out the dough with a rolling pin as thin as possible, making two pie crusts. Place one in the bottom of a pie dish. You may use a small knife to remove or trim any extra crust. Use the other crust for the top. 6) To prebake a single crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the crust in the pie dish until golden, about 15 minutes, checking after 10 minutes: If the crust bubbles up during baking, pierce the bubbles with a fork and return to the oven to finish baking. Let cool completely on a wire rack. If you’re making my chocolate cream pie, lemon meringue pie, or sweet potato pie, you may use a fork to press into the rim edges of the pie dish, securing the pie crust to the dish.