A true southern classic
Shrimp and grits. Not everyone loves it. But everybody should. Honestly, when I married a boy from the mid west I learned for the first time that there are some people that don't like grits. I don't mean my sweet husband, because he loves grits. But some of his family isn't really fond of it. I just cannot imagine. But I think if they'd spend just a little more time around me I could convert them. Or at least long enough to make them this dish. It really isn't completely their fault though, because I just found this recipe a few days ago and I've never made it until now. And look who showed it to me!
A Yankee boy!
(there is hope for those non-southerners)
For those of you who may not be familiar with Bobby Flay's Throwdown show. He finds people who are locally famous all across the United States for a particular dish and challenges them to a "throw down" of sorts. He ambushes the chefs in a friendly showdown and they compete with friends and family present and have a panel of judges decide whose recipe they like best. Bobby adds his own flair to recipes.
Now, no offense to Mr. Flay... because I would have loved to try his recipe. But he ruined me during the intro to this showdown. He always describes how he came upon the local chef and how they prepare their dish (in short) and then describe how he will challenge them. In this particular show he stated that the grits is a corn base and is similar to polenta. My inner voice went "uh oh" and sure enough when I looked at his recipe he used stone-ground yellow cornmeal for his recipe. YIKES.
I hate to split hairs... but cornmeal is not gonna cut it. Not with this recipe. Grits is made from ground hominy. Which is a relative of corn. But not the same. I'm not a fan of hominy in any other form because it's icky. But it's just what grits IS. Not cornmeal. (how's that for conviction?) So I knew ol' Bobby Flay was sunk before I even read the rest of the challenge. Sure enough our fellow southerner Joe Barnett won. He is from Washington, Georgia and this is his recipe. I'm so lucky that the first time I've ever made this recipe I have the honor of making his recipe. And so are you! Because I'm sharing.
For this recipe you will need:
7 tablespoons of unsalted butter divided ( I made the mistake of using salted butter)
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
3 cup of shrimp stock, divided (I used chicken stock because it's what I had)
2 cups of heavy whipping cream divided
1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce (I used one tsp instead and loved it)
1 1/2 cups of quick grits (not instant)
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 1/2 cups of extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
salt (really, just say no to this)
1 tablespoon of cajun seasoning
2 teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
ground black pepper
1 pound of med-large (26-30 count) of shrimp peeled and deveined.
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
2 ounces of (1/4 inch thick) sliced, sugar cured ham. Cubed and browned.
* I didn't have ham so I decided to substitute Keilbasa for ham. It was wonderful!
Also, I didn't have raw shrimp. I wish I did, but I used shrimp from Sam's club. It worked fine.
You make this recipe in 3 separate parts. Begin with the sauce.
In a medium saucepan , melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.
Add 2 tablespoons of flour
Whisk until the roux reaches a medium brown. About 8 minutes.
Then slowly add the stock and then the cream. Whisking until the sauce has thickened and coats the back of the spoon. About 10 minutes. Then whisk in the worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.
Remove from heat, and cover while you prepare the grits.
To cook the grits you will need a separate sauce pan or pot. Combine 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 3 cups of stock and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Slowly whisk in 1 1/2 cups of grits and whisk as you add so it won't clump. Continue to whisk for 5 minutes.
Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
Add 1 1/2 cup of whipping cream
Add 1 1/2 cup of extra sharp cheddar cheese
Continue whisking until it is blended and then remove from heat and then cover and set aside.
Next you will prepare the shrimp. Really, this recipe goes so fast I had to have Joe help me the entire time so I could get some quick pictures as we cooked. So have everything you need to use out so it is handy. It will go faster than you think!
In bowl combine the following:
1 tablespoon of cajun seasoning
2 teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
freshly ground black pepper
Mix these ingredients to blend and then add shrimp, tossing to coat.
In a saucepan combine:
Melt 2 teaspoons of unsalted butter in saucepan over medium heat
Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
Add the shrimp and cook until it is just cooked through. (for raw shrimp this means it will turn from gray to pink)
See in the back of my pic... there is the sauce on the right and the grits in the red dish.
Here's one of the ways I parted ways with the recipe. I didn't have ham. I heated the keilbasa in a separate pan and then added to the shrimp. Because my shrimp wasn't raw I didn't need to cook it for very long. Basically I cooked it just long enough to heat it up.
Now it's time to serve it up! Get a wide bowl... and ladle a heaping serving of grits in the bottom.
Next place some shrimp on top and some ham or sausage. The drippings are going to make it look gorgeous. Then add a spoonful or two of the sauce on top of that.
This makes my Arkansas accent come back. I'm just sayin' is all...
I know this recipe looks like it's a lot of work, but really it isn't. You just break it down in to three separate parts and it is a piece of cake! We didn't have a salad or any side dishes for this meal. It fed the four of us perfectly.
I did discover that it was slightly too salty but I blame that on myself for not using unsalted butter and for using regular chicken broth. I could have been more careful.
Amy's biggest complaint was that the shrimp had tails. haha! But it was oooooooh so good.
Why do we not do this more often?
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