Southern Classic: Shrimp & Grits

With the Mrs. home on maternity leave/summer break (she is a teacher), I've been spoiled a bit by coming home to a lot of dinners on the table. That means I haven't had a chance to do a lot of cooking myself, but today, I was back it.

If you've ever spent time in the South, you may have tried to the classic dish Shrimp & Grits. It is an incredibly delicious and versatile dish that can be enjoyed at any meal. We make it for Sunday dinners from time to time, but I guess traditionally it's a breakfast/brunch dish. Believe me, though, it's good  any time.

I found the basis for this recipe doing a search for "easy shrimp and grits" and finding a recipe on
"Southern Living" magazine's website from a restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC. I've adapted it just a little, by using a Vidalia (read: sweet) onion instead of green onions, as I normally have one on hand and like to think it adds a little more traditional southern flavor to the dish. I also use olive oil (again, I have it and like it), and use whatever shredded cheese that moves me for the cheese grits (tonight I used some Cheddar Jack and an Italian blend.

Now before we get down to the recipe, a very important piece of advice. You need to make this dish like you're on a TV cooking show. In other words, have everything measured out and ready to go. This is not a hard recipe, but it all happens quickly, and it's two dishes in one that must be cooked at the same time. I'll try to give you the timing as we go.

Ingredients
2-4 bacon slices
1 pound peeled, cleaned medium shrimp
Salt & pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil (or just keep all the bacon drippings)
1/2 cup chopped Vidalia (sweet) onion
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Hot sauce to taste

Cheese Grits
14 oz chicken broth
1 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick cook grits
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (the original recipe calls for 3/4 cup sharp Cheddar and 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan)
Hot sauce to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper


Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon, and drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon and set aside. Reserve 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet.

When the bacon is almost done, in a medium saucepan, combine 14 oz chicken broth, skim milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Gradually whisk in grits. Lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Back in the skillet, sauté mushrooms in hot drippings with oil for 5 minutes or until tender. Add onions, and sauté 2 minutes.

As veggies cook, sprinkle some salt and pepper on the shrimp and dredge in flour. Add shrimp and garlic, and sauté 2 minutes or until shrimp are lightly browned. Stir in chicken broth, lemon juice, and hot sauce, and cook 2 more minutes, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet.

Back to the grits: Stir in cheese, white pepper and hot sauce.

Spoon shrimp mixture over hot Cheese Grits; sprinkle with crumbled bacon.

It may not look like the prettiest dish in this photo, but it's delicious! My wife says it's as good as any version she's had in a restaurant. I served it with warm French bread. Also, as different people have different tastes, I like to add more hot sauce to my personal plate, but you do need a little while cooking for the flavor.

If you're making this for breakfast or brunch, serve it along with scrambled eggs and biscuits. Leftovers also go nicely with some eggs for breakfast. Enjoy!

Shrimp and Pineapple with Yellow Curry Sauce

In honor of the Final Four, I'll give you an opening night double-header. This is another restaurant favorite we've adapted at home. It comes from Indochine, an awesome Thai/Vietnamese place in Wilmington.

I've made this with several different bases. The bottom line is that you need a curry sauce/soup with coconut milk. I've made it by just getting a can of coconut milk and mixing in curry powder, but I've found the simplest way is to get a pre-made sauce you can find in the ethnic food aisle of many grocery stores. There are a couple of brands I've tried, including Patak's and Sharwood's. When I made this the other night, I used Sharwood's Pinapple & Coconut Cooking Sauce, and it turned out really well.

OK, here's what you need:
1 green bell pepper sliced into strips
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
1-2 eighths of an onion, layers separated
.5-1 lb shrimp
2 cups pineapple chunks
1-2 Roma tomatoes quartered
Curry sauce
Milk
Curry powder
Ground ginger
Ground turmeric
Olive oil
3-4 cups Jasmine rice (prepared)

I use a rice cooker to do the rice so I don't have to worry about it while I cook everything else.

Heat up a wok and pour some olive oil around the sides. Throw in the green bell pepper strips and onion slices, then after a minute or so, add in the garlic. Let the veggies soften a bit. Add shrimp and stir until shrimp begins to pink up. Add sauce, pineapple and tomatoes, bring to a boil. I like to put a little milk into the empty jar, put the lid back on and shake to get the excess off the sides, then add that in with a little curry powder to taste. You can also add some turmeric and ginger to taste if you want.

Once the sauce comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium and simmer long enough to let everything meld together, soften up the tomatoes and let the pineapple soak in the sauce. Don't let the peppers get too soft, though. Serve over Jasmine rice.

At the restaurant it's actually saucy enough that it can be eaten like a soup/stew with a spoon. Just depends on how you like it.

Now if I can just replicate Indochine's cabbage salad...