Shrimp and Grits

I am back.  We are in our new house and I have my kitchen assembled and all the cookbooks and recipes on their shelves.  I now realize that I have 50 lineal feet of recipes to bring to the table.  The daunting task started last night.  I made Shrimp and Grits from Martha’s new American Food.  It was time consuming but worth it.  This recipe serves 4.  Jim ate the whole thing. 

Ingredients:

For the Grits:

3 C water

3 C milk

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 C white grits, preferably stone-ground (I order mine from Anson Mills)

2/3 C grated mild cheddar (2 ½ oz.) I substituted Manchego.

1 T unsalted butter

For the Shrimp:

2 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into ¼”pieces

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ onion, finely chopped

¼ green bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped

1# medium shrimp peeled and deveined.  (I always use frozen shrimp.  The “fresh” shrimp sold in markets is just defrosted like you would do, unless you live in New Orleans.)

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1T neutral-tasting oil, Martha suggests safflower, I used Grapeseed

1T all-purpose flour

¾ C chicken stock, I used homemade vegetable stock.

1T fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Start with the grits as you can do all the cutting for the shrimp while the grits are cooking.  They take 1 ½ hours and your attention.

1.      Combine the water, milk, and 1 t salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil.  Watch it closely as it will decide to boil over in a heartbeat.  Gradually whisk in grits, then cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbling, about 10 minutes.  Do not skip the constant stirring.  This awakens the grain.  Reduce heat to low.  Cook stirring frequently and scraping across bottom of pan, until tender and creamy throughout, 1 ½ hours. 

2.      Remove from heat and stir in the cheese and the butter.  Season with salt and pepper.  I then put the pan of grits under my new heat lamps to keep it warm while I made the shrimp. 

3.      Make the shrimp: Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until beginning to crisp, about 5 minutes; transfer to a paper plate.  (I use paper plates.  Saves the time of lining a plate with a paper towel.)

4.      Cook the onion, garlic, and bell pepper in rendered bacon fat, stirring occasionally, until just tender but not browned, 2-3 minutes.

5.      Season shrimp on both sides with salt and pepper.  Raise heat to medium-high; push vegetables to edge of skillet.  Add oil and heat until shimmering.   Add shrimp in a single layer; cook until seared on the first side, about a minute.  Flip and sear the other side another minute.  This does not seem long, but you have more steps making the sauce and you do not want to end up with rubber shrimp. 

6.      Push the shrimp to the edge with the vegetables; sprinkle the flour in the middle.  Cook, stirring flour into shrimp-vegetable mixture, 2 minutes.  Add stock.  Simmer, stirring, until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.  Add lemon juice and stir in reserved bacon.  Season with salt and pepper.

7.      To serve. Divide grits among warmed shallow bowls and top with shrimp mixture.      

This is the best shrimp for grits that I have ever made or tasted.