A Shrimp's Dip

Happy New Year everyone!! To start the new year off right I have a new dip recipe for you. We call it “A SHRIMP’S DIP” since it is Mom’s recipe and she is a true shrimp at only 5’ tall. I took it to a party this past weekend and so many people asked me for the recipe. I gave all of them my blog address and promised it would appear this week.

A Shrimp's Dip

1 can tomato soup, undiluted
8 oz. cream cheese
I packet Knox unflavored gelatin
½ c. cold water
1c. mayonnaise
1c. diced celery
1c. diced celery
12 oz small cooked shrimp

In a pan, heat soup until it boils on low heat. Break up the cream cheese into chunks and add to soup, stirring or whisking until cheese is melted and the soup and cheese are blended well. Remove from the heat. Dissolve the gelatin in the cold water and add to the soup mixture. Add the mayonnaise, celery, onion and shrimp and pour into a bowl and let it sit in refrigerator for at least 4 hours. This can be made ahead, like the day before or early in the day of your party.

Mom always served this with Bugles corn chips which I have had a difficult time finding in Rochester so I just used plain corn chips. Tostito’s “scoops” work great.

**Becky Knows Everything: Mom will often cook and clean her own larger shrimp and chop them but I find if you buy the frozen small ones (not the tiny bay shrimp as they are too “fishy”) the results are good. Just run them under cold water until they thaw, then pat them dry with paper towels before you add them to the dip. The small frozen shrimp I use come in 1 lb. bags and this is really too much - so use about 2/3rds of the bag and use the rest for another recipe, salad, etc.

Also, Mom usually puts this in a mold, like a star mold for Christmas, but I think it is difficult to dip your bugle into this, so I transfer it into a pretty bowl and sort of chop it up with a spoon so it looks fluffy.