Shrimp and Grits

I am the luckiest girl alive.  The other day a friend texted asking if I wanted some crab claws.  She has a client who is a seafood distributor, and last week this most excellent client was moved to express her appreciation in material form.  I scored 2 pounds of beautiful, fat, flash frozen crab claws in the deal.

And then yesterday, another friend popped in with some Gulf shrimp.  Actually, what he brought was six pounds of gorgeous extra-large white Gulf shrimp.  I am not making this up. As I portioned them into 1 lb. packages for the freezer, I wondered whether the shrimp plus the crab claws constituted an embarrassment of riches.  Nope, I decided. I’m not embarrassed in the least.

Since I have been craving fall, and since it only got up to 87° today, I’ve decided to whip up shrimp and grits to mark this cold snap.  I love shrimp and grits, and these days you can find them absolutely everywhere. But twenty-something years ago, I had never even heard of them.  Then I landed in Charleston, South Carolina for a couple of years. It seems shrimp and grits had long been a humble breakfast dish in the Lowcountry, but had recently found its way onto dinner menus at upscale restaurants.  Shortly thereafter, Charleston began to really up her tourism game. The tourists came and they gobbled up the shrimp and grits. Then they carried their lust for shrimp and grits all over the South–and from there, the rest of the country–demanding them wherever they went.

Anyway, every chef in Charleston seemed to have his or her own recipe.  Some recipes were little more than shrimp in a sort of browned butter sauce with bacon, some were a thicker brown gravy with things like mushrooms in it.  I can’t remember the restaurant where I first ate shrimp and grits, but I do remember the dish itself: the shrimp were in a light, spicy, tomato-based gravy  with smoked ham. Turns out the tomato-based business was mildly scandalous, but that’s exactly how I learned to like it and I’ve made the dish below ever since.

Also, I am very particular about grits.  I don’t get hung up on stoneground organic grits, or whether they are artisan (whatever that means on any given day), or what color the corn was before somebody gritified it.  No, I get hung up on whether they are creamy, properly seasoned, and wonderful to eat once they’re cooked. I am also partial to grits that you can reheat to good effect. If you follow the recipe for extra creamy grits below, you won’t be sorry.

Shrimp and Grits

For the shrimp:

• 3 T. bacon fat or butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• ½ lb. Conecuh sausage, sliced in ½ inch rounds
• 2 T. flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 t. dried basil, or 2 T. fresh basil, sliced into ribbons  (aka chiffonade)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• ¼ t. crushed red pepper flakes or to taste
• 1 lb. Gulf shrimp, peeled, and deveined if large

Melt bacon fat and sauté the onion until translucent.  Add the sausage and cook until the sausage is beginning to brown a little at the edges.  Add the flour and stir for a few minutes while the raw flour taste cooks off.

Add the garlic and tomatoes.  Cook for a couple of minutes to let the tomato juices reduce a little.  Add wine, basil, salt and pepper, and pepper flakes. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, make grits using the recipe below and keep warm.

When the grits are done and the sauce has simmered, turn the sauce to medium heat. Add the shrimp, and cook just until shrimp are uniformly pink.  Turn off the heat. Ladle shrimp sauce over grits and serve immediately.

For the extra creamy grits:

• 4 cups milk
• 1 t. sea salt 
• 1 cup quick (NOT INSTANT) grits  (I usually have Jim Dandy grits in the pantry)
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a heavy-bottomed pot, bring the milk and salt just to a low boil.  Quickly add all the grits and whisk in well. Bring back to a boil while whisking constantly.  Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 7 or 8 minutes, whisking occasionally. (You must whisk constantly and then occasionally or you will get lumps.)  When grits are tender, turn off the heat and with a wooden spoon stir in cheese a handful at a time. Cover to keep warm on the stove, or, if making ahead, scrape into a buttered casserole allow to cool.  Let come to room temperature if possible before reheating, covered, at 350° until hot.