Welcome to my kitchen.

I'm Lauren Furey.

I'm a private chef in Charleston.

And though I've cooked all over the country, my soul is rooted in Charleston, where the air is salty and the sunshine brings me joy each and every day.

When I'm not working as a chef, I love to go surfing with my friends and get a good bite to eat around town.

So let's celebrate Charleston food and southern living together.

(waves crash) You're watching.

"Now We're Cookin'".

Today we are whipping up a southern dish.

Pickled shrimp and butterbean salad.

I am using the term pickled shrimp in my recipe, but please don't let the word pickled scare you away.

We will be marinating the shrimp even more than we are pickling it, as the shrimp will already be fully cooked.

Let me introduce you to the ingredients in the pickled shrimp component of the salad.

(waves crash) ♪ So the first thing we want to do is make our poaching liquid.

(waves crash) And poaching liquid is that hot water that's used to cook our shrimp gently.

And an important step to take when making the poaching liquid is to add flavor to it.

And how we're going to do that is we're going to add two dried bay leaves.

We're going to add a handful of parsley sprigs.

They're fresh.

They're full of flavor.

And we're going to add the juice of two lemons.

It's important that you freshly squeeze all your lemon juice because you can get a really good arm workout.

And you can also add some super tasty flavor.

It's not necessary to add salt to our poaching liquid, because we're going to add plenty of salt later in the recipe.

Now, the good thing is, in Charleston we have lots of local shrimp, and depending on what time of year it is, you can get small, medium, large, or even extra large.

♪ Poaching is a super gentle cooking technique, and we want to take good care of our shrimp by using poaching as the cooking technique, we're allowing the shrimp to cook to the perfect consistency.

If you cook the shrimp too long, they become tough.

If you don't cook them long enough, they'll be undercooked.

You got to cook the shrimp until they're just right.

So just when they start to turn pink, it's time to take them out and remove them to our little sheet tray right here.

♪ No need for an ice bath or anything like that.

They'll cool on their own.

You can see all the parsley sprigs, the bay leaves, and I can sure smell that fresh lemon juice.

♪ Let's let our shrimp cool.

And in the meantime, we can start making our pickling liquid.

(waves crash) First thing we're going to do is add a half a cup of extra virgin olive oil, which has a lot of flavor, and we're going to balance it out with a quarter cup of vegetable oil.

And it helps stretch the olive oil.

We're going to add a quarter cup of capers.

And capers are briny and they're salty.

So we want to be careful when we're adding just a pinch of kosher salt.

Just like that.

Four fresh garlic cloves.

♪ Two teaspoons of celery seeds.

♪ A tablespoon of mustard seeds.

♪ And a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Now you can add more or less as you like.

But I'm going to start with that today.

We can always add more later.

Bay leaves and then a quarter cup of apple cider vinegar.

The juice of two fresh lemons.

♪ You can use limes as well, but I recommend lemon.

That's what I always use.

You'll see that the mixture is separated right now because we have the citrus and we have the oils.

So in order to make sure it's all evenly combined, some people say emulsify.

We just want to use our whisk and you might get a little messy.

That's okay.

The mixture is getting thicker and similar to making a salad vinaigrette, it's all combined, and that's exactly what we're looking for.

That way, each shrimp will have the flavors of the oils and the vinegars and the lemon juice.

♪ So now I'm going to add the poached shrimp to our pickling liquid.

And I will not add the parsley stems that are from cooking the shrimp.

But we have plenty of fresh herbs in the salad later on.

And we want to be sure that the pickling liquid is absorbed by each and every shrimp.

You want to let this shrimp marinate for at least four hours, but it's also a great entertaining dish because you can make it the day before and let it marinate overnight.

(waves crash) ♪ Our shrimp has been marinating for four hours and it's full of flavor.

Now it's time to build our butterbean salad.

So the first thing we're going to do is add our thinly sliced red onion to a bowl, and red onion is super strong.

So we want to help tame the flavor with a little bit of sweet honey.

We have lots of honey local here in South Carolina, and it adds just the right amount of sweetness.

♪ So add some honey, some water to help soften these onions, as well as some red wine vinegar and red wine vinegar pairs nicely with red onions because it brings out the beautiful red, almost purple color of the red onions.

So I'm going to use this big spoon.

Give it a nice stir.

♪ And that's going to sit in that liquid while we make the rest of our salad.

So I'll set this aside here and I'm going to add in a fresh cucumber.

So...oop... there we go.

Get all the cucumbers in there.

And I thinly sliced the cucumbers in about an eighth inch to a quarter inch slices on a diagonal, after taking the seeds out and taking some of the skin off as well.

So some fresh parsley, ♪ and, ♪ this whole grain mustard helps bind the salad, so I'm going to give it a little shake there.

♪ A little olive oil makes our salad juicy and it creates a luscious vinaigrette.

Now going to add in some thinly cut celery.

And this is a skill that I want to be sure I show you all because celery is full of flavor.

And if you cut it thin enough, you'll get a bite of it in each part of the salad.

So by cutting it on the diagonal, it looks very pretty.

And just two ribs of celery in the salad will be enough for this.

I love this salad because it doesn't make a big mess, and it allows you to entertain with your guests.

And trust me, they'll want to learn how you make this salad.

Our two ribs of celery.

♪ Going to stir it up.

♪ Wow!

I can really smell the fresh parsley, the onions, the sharp vinegar, and of course, it's not a butter bean salad without some freshly torn mint from my garden.

♪ Mint is one of my favorite herbs to grow because it grows like crazy.

And I use it a lot in different recipes, both sweet and savory.

♪ You might even catch some of my mint in my Sicilian pistachio pesto.

♪ It's time for our friends, the butter beans.

We have four cups of butter beans, which I cooked, ♪ and that's something you can do ahead of time.

♪ You want to just toss it with a little olive oil before you let it sit in your refrigerator.

This salad is something I keep in my fridge at all times, whether I need it for a beach picnic, or if my neighbor is coming over for a last minute dinner or lunch, I like to have this ready at all times.

Now this pickled shrimp has been sitting in a refrigerator, marinating in the flavors or dancing with each other.

It's kind of playing nicely, and it helps balance out all the vegetables in our butter bean salad.

So I'm actually going to set aside our wooden spoon and use our slotted spoon to remove the shrimp from the pickling liquid.

And you want to be sure not to let the the dried bay leaves go in the salad.

But hey, if they go in there, you can pick them out at the very end.

So I'm going to add a little bit of freshly cracked black pepper for a little kick.

And there's something really special about freshly cracked black pepper, a little bit goes a long way.

And I gave it a taste.

I do think it needs a pinch of salt, so.

♪ No, maybe two, we have a big bowl here, and for the final stir.

Oh yeah.

We're going to let this salad sit in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes and let it marinate one more time.

Until then, let's work up an appetite.

(waves crash) Gonna take our bowl right here.

Take a big scoop of the salad and take your time with it, because you don't want to break your shrimp or your butter beans in the process.

♪ And...oh yeah, some of everything.

We have the red onions, the crispy cucumbers, the thinly sliced celery and taking that extra time to cut your vegetables nice really makes the difference in your final dish.

So...I don't think a salad is a salad without some freshly cut bacon.

So if you have a vegetarian in your group, you can leave this out, but otherwise you can go, go for it.

A little bacon and then rice that I cooked in advance helps make this salad more of a substantial meal.

♪ (waves crash) Pickled shrimp and butter beans.

A match made in heaven.

The juicy pickled shrimp with the buttery butter beans paired together for the perfect bite.

From the fresh herbs to the crisp vegetables, each bite is packed with flavor.

♪ (waves crash) ♪ (waves crash) Okra corn cakes are one of my favorite things to make.

They're crispy, they're delicious, and you can have them any way that you would like, toppings or not.

(waves crash) Okra is a scary ingredient to some because of the slime that it naturally produces, but the slime does not really come out in this recipe, and even if it does a little bit in the batter, helps the batter thicken up.

(waves crash) So yellow cornmeal is super sweet and it really adds a golden color to our corn cakes.

♪ Baking powder helps the corn cake rise and become nice and fluffy.

Think about the best pancake you've ever had.

That's what this corn cake should look like.

A little bit of granulated sugar, a little pinch of salt and remember, we'll add some more salt to the finished product.

The next thing we'll add is some freshly grated garlic.

I really love the flavor of freshly grated garlic because it's super juicy and you can really taste the difference between grated garlic and jarred garlic.

One egg that was lightly beaten.

♪ Minced jalapeno.

A little bit of spice.

Some minced scallions.

♪ And of course, our okra.

Now we're going to bind it all together with some water.

And you want some cold water.

♪ Now, the batter might look loose at first.

However I promise you the okra slime helps binds it all together.

The slime is now our friend.

♪ Fresh lemon zest brightens up any dish, and I really like the taste of fresh lemon zest in this fried dish, because it helps almost lighten it as well.

♪ So now we're going to mix it all together.

And when you're mixing this batter, you want to be sure to incorporate all the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, because we do not want a lumpy batter.

♪ When I was growing up, my parents used to make cornbread and it was right from the box, and it required only a couple of extra ingredients.

And I remember that was about $0.30 a box, and it was my favorite thing of all time.

(waves crash) It's time to start frying these corn cakes.

So as you can see, the pan is getting smoking hot.

So a little bit of vegetable oil goes a long way.

So I'm going to just add enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

You can always add more.

So I'm using about a quarter cup scoop here.

You can use a ladle, and this does get messy.

So that's okay.

So I'm going to add just a little bit at a time here.

(oil sizzles) And you want to flip them just as soon as the crust on the outer layer starts to form, the bubbles start to form in the middle of the corn cake.

(oil sizzles) I can see that there is a ring of golden batter forming on the outside of these corn cakes.

So I'm going to go ahead and flip them over.

(oil sizzles) Every pan's a little bit different, and each stove works a little bit different.

My first one got a little crispy and that's bound to happen.

The more corn cakes you make the easier it'll get for you.

So I'm going to add a little bit more oil.

Just a couple of tablespoons or so.

And I'm going to use our scoop and just get a little bit.

(oil sizzles) So I'm just going to keep frying them.

And this batter will make you know about 22 inch diameter corn cakes.

And I'm removing it to a tray with a paper towel.

That's helping soak up any extra grease.

♪ And I'm salting them while they're hot.

So the salt sticks to the hot oil.

♪ Don't be shy with that salt on these corn cakes.

(oil sizzles) Perfect.

All right.

(waves crash) Got a little oil on my shirt, but, you know, they make these aprons.

You're supposed to wear them all the way up.

But I decided to wear a half an apron.

So, they're okra corn cakes.

They're hot.

They're crispy.

Some of them I might even put some pickled shrimp on top.

I have a really great recipe for pickled shrimp.

And if you want to keep things simple, you can even take corn cake, top it with a little bit of this crema.

And a crema, well, how I like to make it at least is sour cream, lemon zest, chives and a little bit of salt.

And that's all you really need for a great party appetizer.

You can even add some crab salad on top if you want to really get fancy.

(waves crash) I was born and raised in Philadelphia, and one of my favorite dishes is my mom's apple cobbler.

It has a sky high layer of streusel on top, made of flour, butter, sugar, and even some oats.

When I moved down to Charleston, my mentor, Nathalie Dupree, taught me about the southern way to make cobbler.

This one comes together in a pinch.

(waves crash) The trick to a super sweet apple cobbler is to cook the apples before actually cooking the cobbler in the oven.

And so I have here Granny Smith apples, and they're a little bit more tart than Honeycrisp apples, for example.

But they cook up nicely because they can stay firm and they can caramelize really well with all the butter and the brown sugar.

So I'm going to add two tablespoons of butter to my cast iron pan.

I can promise you that this recipe will become one of your favorites, because it requires only one pan and minimal mess.

The first thing we want to do is let our buttermilk in the pan, and we're going to add Granny Smith apples that are thinly cut, so they cook pretty quickly.

(oil sizzles) In order to get the most caramelized and beautiful apples, you want to be sure you add them in a single layer to be sure that each side of the apple has a nice color.

So about 2 to 3 minutes each side.

And then we're going to flip it over and add some more brown sugar.

But I'm going to take a peek to see how they're doing.

(oil sizzles) Oh yeah.

So they're getting brown but not quite yet.

Part of the reason this recipe smells so good is because the butter is browning in the pan, and the brown butter combined with the sugars from the apples and then later the brown sugar is a really good combination.

You got to be patient with the apples because it's tempting to want to flip them really quick, but you got to let them do their thing.

(oil sizzles) You'll notice that the edges of the apples become the darkest, the quickest, and you want to use your tongs to make sure you flip every apple or else some of them could become really dark before you know it.

And it's important to keep in mind one of the first things I ever learned in cooking from Nathalie Dupree is that everything cooks according to thickness, so if you want your apples to cook quicker, if you're extra hungry, well, slice them thinner and then you'll be on your way to a super delicious cobbler.

This is exactly what we're looking for.

(oil sizzles) It's crisp.

(oil sizzles) It's cooked all the way through.

And it's about ready to add some brown sugar.

I'm going to add a tablespoon or two of brown sugar to be sure that each apple slice gets a fair share of that brown sugar.

And I'm tossing the apples in the brown sugar and the butter, (oil sizzles) and the brown sugar melts into the butter and brown sugar is a really great ingredient because it includes molasses.

So the nutty flavor of the molasses really complements the tart flavor of the apples in the brown butter.

(oil sizzles) It's hard not to eat an apple right out of the pan, (oil sizzles) It could be pretty hot.

♪ A quick little wipe down just to get the extra sugar out.

I'm going to add a stick of butter.

Get this pan into our preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

And this butter will be the basis for our batter.

♪ (waves crash) ♪ Our cast iron skillet is in the oven with the butter in it, and it's melting away.

In the meantime, let's make our cobbler batter.

(waves crash) So this recipe is really fun to make because a lot of the ingredients are in the quantity of one.

So I'll show you what I mean by that one cup of all purpose flour.

♪ One cup of granulated sugar.

♪ A little bit of ground cinnamon.

♪ Ground ginger.

And those spices really add warmth, and a little bit of spice to this dish.

♪ Pinch of salt and baking powder to help the cobbler rise.

♪ Now, those are our dry ingredients, so we'll mix that together.

♪ And for our wet ingredients a little bit of whole milk, a cup.

♪ Some vanilla extract (liquid trickles) I really love vanilla extract.

And it pairs well with this orange liqueur.

This is two teaspoons and it is an optional ingredient.

But it adds a citrus flavor to this dish that I do think it needs.

You could also add some orange zest in replacement for that orange liqueur.

♪ Speaking of zest, we're going to add the zest of one lemon.

♪ And when you're zesting a lemon, you want to be sure not to get the white part of the lemon called the pith.

We want only the yellow part, which is the zest.

♪ Mix it all together.

Mix.

Mix.

Mix.

♪ I love to see how the cinnamon dissolves in this batter.

♪ I really love how it smells, as well.

♪ At first I was using a rubber spatula just to show you all that, that doesn't really do the trick when you're making a cobbler, because our flour has a few lumps in it.

The whisk really helps... break it up.

Now that our batter is complete, I'm going to get our hot skillet out the oven and I'll show you what happens when we pour the hot batter onto the melted butter.

(waves crash) Our butter is sizzling and it's ready for our cobbler batter.

♪ I'm going to pour it right in.

(batter sizzles) And you'll see the browns butter bits really play well with the cobbler batter.

And...last but not least, it is an apple cobbler, after all.

I'm going to just use my hands here and place the apples every which way on the cobbler.

Certain months of the year, I really enjoy putting in peaches and berries, but apples right now they're the move.

I'm going to put this cobbler back into the oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until it's golden, crispy and delicious.

(waves crash) The cobbler is fresh out of the oven and boy, it smells so good.

It's time to serve it up.

And I made some hand whipped cream right here, which is completely optional but highly recommended.

And I'm going to take a big spoonful.

I've got a hungry friend coming over and we had another long day of surfing, so I think a little apple cobbler will help us rest.

♪ A little bit of whipped cream.

Well, maybe not a little bit.

How about a lot of it?

And maybe one more for good luck.

(waves crash) You can make this cobbler any time of year using whichever fruit is in season.

♪ Thank you so much for watching.

I'm Lauren Furey and catch you next time on "Now We're Cookin'".

♪