On blogs everywhere I am seeing the most delicious looking foods celebrating Mardi Gras. Since I pretty much no nothing about Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday, have never been to New Orleans, nor am I cajun...I really don't have much to offer today. However, I do have a shrimp and grits recipe that is SO good. It's as close as I can come to sharing in the spirit of the day!
Shrimp and Grits - adapted from Joy the Baker
4 cups water
1 cup stone ground grits (or polenta)
salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter *I used Smart Balance Light
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined without the tails
6 slices bacon *al fresco apple maple chicken sausage
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 large garlic clove, minced
Bring water to a boil. Add grits to the boiling water while whisking to prevent clumps. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Lower heat, bring to simmer and cover until water is absorbed. Follow the directions on your box of grits or polenta. Cooking times vary. Once thick, remove from heat and stir in butter and shredded cheese.
Rinse and pat shrimp dry. Cook the sausage in a large skillet. When cooked through remove from the pan and add shrimp into the grease pan (I had very little grease from chicken sausage, but it was fine). Cook until shrimp turn pink. Add lemon juice, sausage, scallions, garlic and parsley. Cook for another three minutes.
Spoon the grits into a serving bowl and top with shrimp mixture. Serve immediately.
This has just made me seriously hungry. And I'mpretty absolutely sure I would love beignets. Which has nothing to do with this recipe, but I always think of them whenever I hear anything about Mardi Gras! *sigh*
4 cups water
1 cup stone ground grits (or polenta)
salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter *I used Smart Balance Light
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined without the tails
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 large garlic clove, minced
Bring water to a boil. Add grits to the boiling water while whisking to prevent clumps. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Lower heat, bring to simmer and cover until water is absorbed. Follow the directions on your box of grits or polenta. Cooking times vary. Once thick, remove from heat and stir in butter and shredded cheese.
Rinse and pat shrimp dry. Cook the sausage in a large skillet. When cooked through remove from the pan and add shrimp into the grease pan (I had very little grease from chicken sausage, but it was fine). Cook until shrimp turn pink. Add lemon juice, sausage, scallions, garlic and parsley. Cook for another three minutes.
Spoon the grits into a serving bowl and top with shrimp mixture. Serve immediately.
This has just made me seriously hungry. And I'm
What are your plans to celebrate? Anyone giving something up for Lent? I'm not Catholic, but with my pants so tight, fasting sounds like a really good idea. I need to learn more about this!
I really think I need to give grits another try. I had them one time and they were so tasteless that it kind of turned me off them. But I know they can't ALL taste like that. I was just unfortunate enough to have had bad ones the first time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think this year I'm giving up listening to people talk about what they're giving up for Lent :)
I just can't do grits, but I'll bet rice would work for my family. Or we could wrap the shrimp and other goodies in a tortilla.
ReplyDeleteoh shrimp and grits....LOVE! There is a place in Charleston SC that we go every year that serve the most awesome shrimp and grits...and if you don't like grits...than you haven't had them made right! They are so good!!! This recipe looks awesome and I need to give it a try sometime!!
ReplyDeleteOhhhh so good. I normally don't like savory grits and load them up with sugar, but when they're topped with shrimp cheesy grits are so good.
ReplyDeleteYUM! I love shrimp and I love grits; but I have never had them together. I usually like my grits with lots of butter, salt and pepper and the occasional runny egg yellow in them. I've got to give this a try sometime. Great photo!
ReplyDeleteMy son is a grad student at South Carolina. We had shrimp and grits for our Thanksgiving dinner, definitely different than our normal fare. This looks yummy!
ReplyDelete