Saturday, March 5, 2011

Shrimp and Grits

This is one recipe that I looked forward to making.  Not because I felt like this is a fancy dish to try, or not because I felt like it’d impress anyone.  I wanted to make this for me.  I’ve only had it a few times, but every time I do I just love it.  Therefore, I thought it’d be a perfect recipe to try to re-create.  I found this through a friend’s blog who made this for her husband for their anniversary.  She had rave reviews on it, so I knew it’d be a perfect one to try.  I’m always looking for recipes that others have tested.  That way I at least know that someone out there has liked it before.  Matter of fact, that’s one of my biggest tips: Always read the reviews.  Most recipe index websites all have reviews, and they sometimes give the best tips, so read 'em they can help you out!
This recipe taught me a lot about myself.  I learned that I can’t cook without some sort of disaster.  It always happens, but I’ve learned that that’s OK.  As long as there’s an edible outcome it’s all good!  This time (as always) I didn’t do my prep work, so as I was hurriedly trying to chop my vegetables and sausage, I cut my thumb.  <Blood may have been the secret ingredient.  OK, all jokes aside,  I took a break to clean everything up! > Then, my milk mixture boiled over because I left it unattended.  Now you know, milk boils over and sharp knives go through flesh like butter.
Let’s get on with it. Here's the original recipe.

Ingredients:


3 Tbsp olive oil (I used canola because that's what I have)
1 whole red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped (I omitted)
1-2 garlic cloves, minced (I used 1 tsp of pre-minced garlic)
6 oz sausage, sliced
½ c dry white wine
1/3 c all-purpose flour
2 ¼ c chicken broth
½ c heavy whipping cream
2 bay leaves (I used one)
1-1 ½ tsp Creole seasoning (I probably used more about 2)
3 lbs shrimp (I used 1 frozen bag)
2 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley (I used about a tsp of dried)




Step 1:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add bell pepper, onion, and garlic, and sauté 2 minutes to soften.  Add sausage, and cook 6 to 7 minutes or until browned, stirring often. Add wine, and cook until almost all liquid has evaporated.  This took about 7 minutes


Step 2:
Sprinkle flour over mixture in skillet, and cook about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. (Flour will start to brown.) Gradually whisk in chicken broth and cream; add bay leaves and Creole seasoning.
Step 3:
Bring mixture to a simmer, and cook, uncovered until thick, stirring often.  At this point, I just left  it simmering until I was about ready to serve.
Step 4:
Add shrimp to sauce, and cook 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp turn pink, stirring often.  This won’t take long!  Take out your bay leaf and serve over grits.

Cheese Grits
Right around Step 3, I made my grits, which in this case was polenta, which is basically yellow grits.  The kind I bought were quick cooking so they only took about 5 minutes.  This is how I made mine, but most any cheese grits recipe will work just be sure to follow that package’s liquid to grits ratio.


2 c milk
2 c water
2 c chicken stock
2 c grits
2 c Swiss cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp butter



Bring water/milk/stock mixture to a simmer, add S &P, and butter.  Then, whisk in grits. Next, whisk in cheese. Continue stirring for about 5 minutes; keep warm.


This recipe may not be streets of NOLA worthy, but it’s pretty good for an Alabama week night!
Enjoy!
Kirby

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for this recipe! I am a shrimp and grits fanatic and I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago. My whole family LOVED it (which is saying A LOT)! We even had enough left overs that my husband and I made everyone at work jealous the next day (I was nice enough to share with a few co-workers who all loved it too). Since cooked grits don't keep so well, I made a couple of packets of instant grits at work and just added cheddar cheese and it worked pretty well.

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  2. I'm so glad you all enjoyed this!! Thanks for sharing your experience! :)

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