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…
This recipe called for quite a few ingredients…
The Cajun seasoning is a KEY ingredient for the shrimp…
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 & bacon)
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 & bacon)
Head The Food Network for the step by step directions.
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Here are a few tips when making this dish:
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 pound bags and used all of them, 1/2 lb more than what the recipe called for.
next best thing, Frozen Raw Peeled Deveined Wild Gulf Shrimp. I bought 2, 1 pound 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 use
less and it will 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!
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!
Lisa ~ The SweetTalk Shop
Yummy! It may be what's for dinner one night this week. I'm not sure about all the steps and ingredients, but it looks like it would be worth all the work!! Thanks for sharing on SweetTalkin' Sunday :°)