Tomato Aspic
BY JILL PALMER
Back in the ‘60s, folks in Mississippi used to serve chilled Jell-O salads on hot summer days. In my southern-origin family, chilled jellied salad (or as we call it, tomato aspic) is served as one of our favorite dishes at our Thanksgiving dinner celebration.
Aspic is basically a tomato Jell-O containing all kinds of meats and vegetables of your choice. You either love it or you hate it. In our family, we develop the Jell-O base, then drop in the extra ingredients before the Jell-O can chill and solidify. In our aspic, we include: cilantro, diced shrimp, diced onions, diced celery, lemon juice, bay leaves and diced green olives. But you can include whatever your Thanksgiving-loving heart desires. It’s a great treat for people who love exoctic tastes. Even if you aren’t a person for strange foods, it’s always worth a try.
Ingredients
3 envelopes KNOX unflavored gelatin
3 cups cold tomato juice, divided
2 cups tomato juice, heated to boiling
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tbsp. sugar
1 ½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
4 dashes Tabasco Sauce
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
Diced shrimp
Diced celery
Diced green olives
Cilantro
Directions
Sprinkle gelatin over 1 cup of the cold tomato juice in large bowl; let stand 1 minute to soften gelatin. Add hot juice; stir 5 minutes or until gelatin is completely dissolved.
Add remaining 2 cups cold juice, lemon juice, sugar, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into glass pan or individual bowls/ring molds.
Refrigerate 1 hour, add shrimp, celery, green olives, bay leaves and cilantro.
Optional: add thin layer of mayonnaise to full dish or add to your own individual serving.
Enjoy!
Jill Palmer is an intern at The Weekly Sun and a student at Silver Creek High School.