Tried & True Tuesday ~ Shrimp & Grits

After having the awesome Shrimp & Grits
 in Duck, NC, at The Red Sky Cafe, 
I didn't want to wait until June to have
  them again.  I've been wanting to try 
 to make them for a while now... 


I finally made my first ever Shrimp & Grits! 
  
It took forever to find a recipe I wanted to try.  

I found a great recipe on FoodNetwork.com ~ 

Bobby Flay's Shrimp & Grits

This recipe called for quite a few ingredients...

The Cajun seasoning is a KEY ingredient for the shrimp...

Here is the recipe from the Food Network:

Ingredients

Shrimp:

• 1 1/2 pounds (26-30 count) Wild Georgia Shrimp
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning (Recommended: Tone's Cajun seasoning)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
• Freshly ground black pepper

Cheesy Grits:

• 2 cups water
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes (Knorr is recommended)
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 cup quick grits (Quaker is recommended)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 1/2 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter 
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (Texas Pete is recommended)
• 1 slice sugar-cured country ham (I used brown sugar-cured ham & a little bacon)

Directions

First, peel and devein the shrimp. In a small bowl, combine Cajun seasoning, paprika, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the shrimp to coat well and set the shrimp aside.

Next, make your grits. In a medium saucepan, bring water, chicken bouillon cubes and 2 tablespoons butter to a boil. Slowly add the grits, whisking often with wire whisk for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, cream, and cheese. Keep whisking for another 2 or 3 minutes until the grits become creamy. Don't skimp on the butter and the cream, folks.

Now saute the shrimp. In a large saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add in the spice-coated shrimp, and cook only until they're just done and tender. Don't overcook. Remove the shrimp from the saute pan and set them aside in a bowl. You can taste 1 or 2, to see if they're okay.

The roux is next. With all those wonderful drippings from the shrimp in the saute pan, add 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and stir with a wooden spatula to make a roux. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until roux reaches a medium-tan color, then slowly add the chicken stock and heavy whipping cream. Whisk together and cook for 2 minutes, then whisk in Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Set aside.

And last, a little country ham. Cook 1 center slice of cured country ham in a saute pan, and cut into cubes.

To serve, place a few heaping spoonfuls of cheesy grits onto a plate, top with several shrimp. Drizzle roux sauce over top of the shrimp, and sprinkle on a few the ham and/or bacon. Enjoy!  *I placed the Shrimp & Grits on top of a small bed of fresh baby spinach - it's such a good combination!

*recipe is copied from the FoodNetwork.com here.

Here are a few tips:

CHEESY GRITS

# 1 lesson I learned during my research on Shrimp & Grits, 

DO NOT USE INSTANT GRITS for this dish.  It was recommended to use Quaker Quick Grits.

  

I wasn't able to take pictures of the grits during the cooking process.  This was my first time making them - they needed a lot of whisking and attention.  Be sure to use a heavy-bottomed sauce pan.  Once you add the grits to the liquid, be sure to whisk continoulsy until they begin to thicken.  Grits can burn easily, so be sure to watch your heat. I cooked my quick grits over medium heat in the beginning and then turned the heat down slightly once they thickened.  Once the grits start to thicken, whisk often.  Have a spatula handy too, one that can tolerate high heat.  Scrape the sides and bottom of pan as needed. 

SHRIMP

My local grocery store didn't have Wild Georgia Shrimp so I decided to use the next best thing, Frozen Raw Peeled Deveined Wild Gulf Shrimp.  I bought 2, 1 lb bags and used all of them, 1/2 lb more than what the recipe called for.

The shrimp have A LOT of kick!

{If you are not a fan of a lot of spice, you can probably use 

less and it should still turn out great}

Be careful not to overcook your shrimp, 

they are ready in only 3 to 5 minutes!

This is my first ROUX ever!

{Besides Thanksgiving gravy}

Make sure you have extra chicken broth in the house - it came in handy!

I used about a 1/2 cup more than what the recipe called for.  When I added 

the flour to the drippings leftover from the shrimp, the roux was super thick,

 too thick to work with so I added a little Swanson Chicken Broth. 

{*the EXTRA chicken broth is not from the 1 cup of broth I used later for the sauce.}

The sauce turned out Perfect!

Here is the finished product...

The Shrimp & Grits were mmm...mmm...good!

The cheesy grits were fabulous, I loved them!  

I'll be making this recipe again!

I'll be sharing this recipe find 

and tips at these great parties!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!