Seafood Stuffed Tomatoes

Recipe by Damon Lee Fowler, featuring

Tybee Island Coastal Blend (or River Street Cobblestone Blend, or Southern Herb Garden Blend)

Ripe tomatoes filled with local shrimp and crab and baked are an old Lowcountry-Savannah favorite in the summer, when all the ingredients are seasonal and at their most flavorful. They’re pretty simple to make, but even simpler with The Salt Table’s Tybee Island Coastal Grinder Blend. Other great seasonings for them are River Street Cobblestone Blend and Southern Herb Garden Blend.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 large ripe tomatoes
  • Kosher salt
  • ½ pound small to medium shrimp
  • ½ pound (1 tightly packed cup) picked crabmeat
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • ½ cup minced yellow onion (about half a medium onion)
  • 1 cup coarsely crushed cracker crumbs
  • Salt Table Tybee Island Coastal Grinder Blend, 
  • ¼ cup fine cracker crumbs

HOW TO MAKE IT:

  1. Cut ¼-inch from the stem end of the tomatoes, scoop out and discard their seeds, and carefully scoop out the inner pulp with a sharp spoon or melon baller, leaving the outer walls of each tomato intact. Roughly chop the pulp. Lightly salt the shells and invert them over a colander for 30 minutes.
  2. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and add the shrimp. As soon as they’re curled and pink, about a minute or less, immediately drain them. Rinse them under cold running water, peel, and if they aren’t very small, cut them into 2 or 3 pieces. Pick over the crabmeat for bits of shell.
  3. Put 2 tablespoons butter and the onion in a sauté pan over medium heat and sauté, tossing, until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato pulp and cook until it is beginning to break down and its juices are thick, about 4 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the coarse cracker crumbs, crab, and shrimp and toss to mix. Season well Tybee Island Coastal Blend.
  4. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 375° F. Bring a teakettle full of water to a rolling boil. Butter a 9-inch casserole. Pat the inside of the tomato shells dry and put them in the casserole, open side up. Divide the filling among them, mounding it on top.
  5. Wipe out the pan in which the filling was made and add the remaining tablespoon of butter. Melt it over low heat, add the fine crumbs, and toss until the butter is evenly absorbed. Turn off the heat and sprinkle the buttered crumbs over the tops of the tomatoes. Carefully pour boiling water around them until it comes not quite halfway up their sides. Bake until the tomatoes are barely cooked and the filling is hot through, about 20 minutes.

 

Suggested Seasonings

Tybee Island Coastal Grinder Blend

This recipe also works well with River Street Cobblestone Blend or Southern Herb Garden Blend

Fresh Beef Tacos

Recipe by Damon Lee Fowler, featuring

Salt Table’s Summer Salt Blend

Taste-Tested and enthusiastically approved by my grandchildren. Our granddaughter likes them finished with a drizzle of ranch dressing, but you could add sour cream, and/or any salsa that you like, but keep the dressings spare or the excess will just ooze out and drip all over you.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
  • 1 pound ground beef chuck, preferably from grass-fed cattle
  • About 2 teaspoons Salt Table’s Savannah Summer Salt, or to taste
  • About 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
  • ¼ cup tomato catsup or chili sauce, optional
  • 8 large whole wheat flour tortillas
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1 large, ripe tomato, cored, seeded, and diced
  • 1-1½ cups shredded Romaine or Iceberg Lettuce
  • ½ medium Vidalia Sweet Onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • Thinly sliced fresh hot Jalapeno peppers, optional
  • Ranch dressing, sour cream, and/or salsa of your choice, for serving, optional
  1. Warm the oil in a 10-inch skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Crumble in the beef, raise the heat to medium-high, and sauté, tossing or stirring occasionally, until it has lost its raw, red color and is beginning to brown. Season well with Summer Salt and chili powder to taste and lower the heat to medium low. If you’d like a sauce to bind the meat, add the optional catsup or chili sauce. Let it simmer about 2-3 minutes longer, or until the beef is just cooked through (and if you’ve added catsup, it’s reduced and thickened). Remove it from the heat.
  2. Warm a griddle or large non-stick pan over medium-low heat. Lay a tortilla in the pan. Let it get hot, turning it once, and remove it from the pan to a serving plate. Spoon 1/8 of the beef down its center and top with a sprinkling of cheese, then the tomato, lettuce, onion, and jalapeno peppers. Lightly sprinkle with Summer Salt and, if you like, drizzle a little dressing or sour cream over it, or add a spoonful or two of salsa (or offer these for each diner to add to taste).
  3. Fold a quarter of the tortilla at the top and bottom over the edge of the filling and then fold the left side all the way over them. Roll the taco over the filling into a neat package. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and fillings and serve immediately.

 

Suggested Seasonings

Savannah Summer Salt

Creamy Clam Dip


Recipe by Damon Lee Fowler, featuring

Salt Table Tybee Island Coastal Grinder Blend

The Tybee Island Coast Grinder Blend is one of Carol’s award-winning blends and best selling blends for seafood of all types. This recipe features this versatile blend for the perfect appetizer. Serve it with crackers and chips and enjoy it at any picnic or backyard party.

Makes about 2 cups

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 8-ounce block cream cheese, softened
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons or to taste freshly-ground Tybee Island Coastal Grinder Blend
  • 1 6½-ounce can minced clams, drained but juice reserved
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Hot sauce such as Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce
  • 1 lemon cut in half
  • 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
    Sturdy “scoop” style corn chips or ruffled potato chips

HOW TO MAKE:

  1. Whip together the cream cheese and sour cream with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Blend in 2 teaspoons Tybee Blend and 3 tablespoons of reserved clam juice. Blend in several dashes of Worcestershire and hot sauce and a teaspoon of lemon juice, and fold in the parsley. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so to allow the flavors to blend.
  2. Taste and adjust the Tybee Blend, Worcestershire, hot sauce, lemon juice, and clam juice. It can be served right away, but will be better if chilled for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. If you’ve chilled it, let it sit at room temperature at least 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley if liked and serve with “scoop” corn chips or ruffled potato chips.

 

Suggested Seasonings

Tybee Island Coastal Grinder Blend

Marinated Shrimp, Avocado, and Tomato Salad

 

Recipe by Damon Lee Fowler, featuring

Salt Table Tybee Island Coastal Grinder Blend and Leek, Chive and Onion Blend

 

Southerners love their seafood, and shrimp is on the top of that list because it is so versatile in so many dishes, especially salads. This salad features ‘Tybee Island Coastal Grinder Blend’ and ‘Leek, Chive and Onion Blend,’ and we think you’ll absolutely love it!

Completely peel the shrimp for this. Nothing is more irritating than having that pretty but inedible bit of tail fin on the end of a shrimp that you’re trying to eat with a knife and fork.

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 pounds medium shrimp
  • Salt Table Tybee Island Coastal Blend
  • 1 medium clove garlic, lightly crushed and peeled
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons white wine or sherry vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons or more, to taste, Salt Table Leek, Chive, and Onion Seasoning Blend
  • 1/2 cup washed, strung, and diced celery
  • 1/2 cup washed, trimmed, and sliced scallions, optional
  • 2 tablespoons nonpareil capers, drained
  • 1 head romaine lettuce, pulled apart, washed, and spun dry
  • 2 medium to large ripe tomatoes
  • 2 ripe avocadoes
  • 6-8 small fresh basil leaves
  • 12-16 Butter Toasted Croutons, optional (see note below)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

  1. Bring 3 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Add the shrimp and simmer until 3-4 shrimp float, about 1 minute. Drain, rinse under cold running water, then grind Tybee Island Blend liberally over them and toss well. Let cool completely, then peel and devein. The shrimp will pick up the seasoning as you peel them.
  2. 2. Make the vinaigrette: chop the garlic and sprinkle it with salt. Rub it to a paste with the flat side of the knife. Scrape it into a mixing bowl and whisk in the lemon juice, vinegar, and mustard. Whisk in the oil a few drops at a time until emulsified and whisk in 2 tablespoons of Leek, Chive, and Onion Seasoning. Set it aside 10-15 minutes, taste, and adjust seasonings and lemon juice. Put the shrimp in a bowl and pour all the vinaigrette over them. Add the celery, scallions, and capers, toss well, cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or until needed.
  3. To serve, line a platter with lettuce leaves. Tear the remaining lettuce into bite-sized pieces in large salad bowl. Core and if desired peel the tomatoes, then halve, seed, and dice them and add them to the shrimp. Halve, pit, peel and dice the avocadoes and add them to the shrimp. Gently toss. Lift the shrimp, avocado and tomato from the vinaigrette with a slotted spoon and add them to the lettuce. Toss well, taste, and add the reserved vinaigrette as needed. Spread the salad on the lettuce-lined platter, tear the basil into small pieces over it. Scatter croutons over salad if using and serve immediately, with the remaining marinade passed separately.

Butter-Toasted Croutons: Cut 2 1-inch thick slices firm, crusty bread into 1-inch cubes. Warm 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add bread and toss to coat. Pan-toast, tossing regularly, until evenly browned and crisp, about 6-8 minutes.

 

Suggested Seasonings

Tybee Island Coastal Grinder Blend

Leek, Chive & Onion Seasoning and Dip Blend