summer party food: chipotle-shrimp dip and peach bloomer droppers
It's a Tuesday night, but since it's Fourth of July Eve it's not a "school night" (read "work night", somehow it will always be a "school night" if tomorrow is a day where someone will take attendance) for most people. So to get a little caught up in my blog world on the interwebs, here's a quick post of some favorite summer party food. The first recipe is for chipotle-shrimp dip which started from a little cocktail food cookbook I bought at Crate and Barrel maybe 10 years ago on a whim. It's been pretty handy. Back in the day I made up the shrimp filling using fresh shrimp I would peel and devein and cook quickly in a skillet and actually cut up tortillas and baked them into little cups in mini muffin pans for an adorable bite-size presentation. At some point I decided frozen shrimp were just so much easier. Then they invented scoops and into the pre-made cups the filling would go. Now I've decided just to thin it out with more lime juice and a little Greek yogurt and let you dip it yourself. Not as cute, but a lot less stress for me. And really, you want it that way when you are the hostess. Sure, I can impress the heck out of you but I am willing to lose some presentation points to keep myself enjoying the experience.
The second recipe is for peach bloomer droppers and it's a repeat, but it's peach season so I'm going to post it again in case you missed it back in 2010. My mother-in-law, Becky throws a good party and this recipe goes way back to when those parties would go way past my bedtime and my in-laws and all of their friends would still by out on the porch partying without me. Wait, that's still pretty true. I have to tell you that Becky is the one who finally got me to have a drink every now and then. I used to bring the babies over to her house when Greg was traveling and I was about to jump off the deep end and she would pour a little wine or Charlie, my father-in-law would make some delicious adult version of a milkshake frozen drink and it would all be a lot better. Grandparents are very wise. There has to be a more sugar-free way to make this with agave nectar and lots of fresh lemon juice and it's my intention to experiment with that concept this summer. But meanwhile, go buy yourself a can of frozen lemonade, cut your washed fresh peaches in half and remove the pits, grab the vodka and the ice and blend up a super easy batch of cold summer goodness.
Chipotle-Shrimp Dip
3/4 pound frozen cooked small shrimp, thawed
one medium sweet onion, minced
3 T minced cilantro
juice of 1-2 limes, to taste
1 T minced canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
Thaw shrimp (or peel, devein and saute it if you are super motivated or live somewhere shrimp is caught). Heat about 2 tsp olive oil in a skillet and saute the onion, red pepper and corn until softened, maybe 5 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a mixing bowl and stir in cream cheese, yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, chipotle pepper, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning (lime juice, salt and pepper are all to taste). Fold in shrimp. Chill and serve chilled.
The second recipe is for peach bloomer droppers and it's a repeat, but it's peach season so I'm going to post it again in case you missed it back in 2010. My mother-in-law, Becky throws a good party and this recipe goes way back to when those parties would go way past my bedtime and my in-laws and all of their friends would still by out on the porch partying without me. Wait, that's still pretty true. I have to tell you that Becky is the one who finally got me to have a drink every now and then. I used to bring the babies over to her house when Greg was traveling and I was about to jump off the deep end and she would pour a little wine or Charlie, my father-in-law would make some delicious adult version of a milkshake frozen drink and it would all be a lot better. Grandparents are very wise. There has to be a more sugar-free way to make this with agave nectar and lots of fresh lemon juice and it's my intention to experiment with that concept this summer. But meanwhile, go buy yourself a can of frozen lemonade, cut your washed fresh peaches in half and remove the pits, grab the vodka and the ice and blend up a super easy batch of cold summer goodness.
Chipotle-Shrimp Dip
3/4 pound frozen cooked small shrimp, thawed
one medium sweet onion, minced
one red pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 C fresh sweet corn kernels (or frozen fire-roasted corn kernels like the ones from Trader Joe's)
8 oz. light cream cheese (get the reduced fat/ neufatchel cheese and it does not need to soften)
2 plus T plain nonfat Greek yogurt3 T minced cilantro
juice of 1-2 limes, to taste
1 T minced canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
Thaw shrimp (or peel, devein and saute it if you are super motivated or live somewhere shrimp is caught). Heat about 2 tsp olive oil in a skillet and saute the onion, red pepper and corn until softened, maybe 5 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a mixing bowl and stir in cream cheese, yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, chipotle pepper, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning (lime juice, salt and pepper are all to taste). Fold in shrimp. Chill and serve chilled.
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| a little sautéing |
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| a little stirring |
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| a little bowl of yummy chipotle shrimp dip |
Peach Blommer Droppers
3 medium-large peaches, washed, and pitted (fuzzy skin is fine)
6-oz. frozen lemonade concentrate
6-oz vodka
ice
Blend together peaches, lemonade, vodka and ice and serve. You can add a little Pelegrino or other fizzy water if you like, but it's nice and flavorful without it.
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