42 replies to this topic

[Chris Amirault]

Welcome to the eGullet Cook-off 55: Shrimp & Grits. Click here for the Cook-off index.

Let's just start with a shameful fact: until this moment, eG Forums has had no topic dedicated to making this classic southern dish. True, there's this rambly topic on the origins and particulars of shrimp & grits, and this one on a shrimp & cauliflower "grits" project by Chappie, and a couple dozen on grits basics. But nothing focused on preparing shrimp & grits.

Perhaps this is because many think of it as a dish without need for specificity or even care. I mentioned to someone recently that I had to do some prep for a shrimp & grits dinner; he retorted, "How much prep is there?" I suppose you could toss some grits into boiling water, toss some shrimp into a skillet, dump B onto A and call it done.

But that seems unfair, doesn't it? The grits below can be a simple foil for dolled-up shrimp, or they can be the luxurious star, creamy, cheese-y, and more. Additional ingredients, garnishes, and accompaniments vary widely, too. If you've had a top-notch version of the dish, you know it isn't just, well, shrimp & grits.

Even this Yankee knows that it's good for what ail's you, late winter blues included. So let's see what your basic recipe is, and then you can show us what you do to kick things up a notch. So to speak.

[Mjx]

This may seem horribly like missing the point, but is there any acceptable, perhaps even common substitute for grits?
I'm having no luck finding them, here... none at all.

[Chris Amirault]

Can you find any type of coarsely ground corn?

[BadRabbit]

Cook my stone ground grits with half milk and half water. At the end, I finish with a small splash of cream and adjust seasoning.

For the shrimp, I start a pan of several slices of bacon cut into cm squares. Once the fat begins to render, I add onions and red bell pepper and then after they are soft I add garlic. I toss in shrimp and tomatoes and saute. When the shrimp are almost ready, a slight bit of flour, brown for 30 seconds and then add stock I made from shrimp shells. Finish with scallions and fresh thyme.

I also occasionally make Hastings recipe from Hot & Hot. It's fantastic. This is a recipe that he put in Coastal Living that is very close to the one in the cookbook.

http://find.myrecipe...=10000000451836

Edited by BadRabbit, 22 February 2011 - 06:24 AM.

[BadRabbit]

This may seem horribly like missing the point, but is there any acceptable, perhaps even common substitute for grits?
I'm having no luck finding them, here... none at all.

There really is no substitute. Coarse ground cornmeal is sometimes the right grind but sometimes not. It's kind of a crap shoot if you are somewhere that you can't find cornmeal produced as grits.

That said, the link below is to a mill in the town where I grew up that produces fantastic grits (I prefer white) as well as excellent fresh ground flour. These are the only grits I ever buy. They ship to all of North America.

http://www.oakviewfarms.com/Default.aspx

Edited by BadRabbit, 22 February 2011 - 06:37 AM.

[DaleJ]

My grits come from Anson Mills, Columbia, SC. So does Thomas Keller's.

[Chris Amirault]

BadRabbit: no cheese?

[Chris Amirault]

My grits come from Anson Mills, Columbia, SC. So does Thomas Keller's.

How do you get them? I just checked google and Zingerman's is the only source -- at $12.50/lb.

By the way, Nathalie Dupree has an entire book on the subject.

[BadRabbit]

BadRabbit: no cheese?

Sometimes yes sometimes no. I find when I finish with cream I get all the richness and smooth (and creamy) texture one usually accomplishes with cheese. When I have Marscapone, I'll add a small knob of it and a little parmesan at the end.

[Mjx]

Can you find any type of coarsely ground corn?

Not that I've seen; this is a smallish town, and I'm trying to think whether there's any speciality shop I've missed; I don't think so. So, I'm going to be making shrimp and quinoa.

Edited by Mjx, 22 February 2011 - 08:35 AM.

[DaleJ]

Anson Mills has a website. Don't remember the cost, but they come in little paper bags in plastic bags in a box. It seems like a small scale operation.

[Chris Amirault]

Here's the website. Which types do people order?

[Katie Meadow]

I'm partial to the white stone ground grits from Hoppin' Johns, which are easily ordered on line. I've never tried Anson Mills, bu maybe I will. I start my grits in water, but add whole milk at two different junctures. No idea where that recipe came from. Sometimes I add cheese to finish, sometimes not. Depending on what's in the fridge, or my mood, I might add sharp cheddar, or creme fraiche, or even a mild goat cheese. Actually I prefer my shrimp 'n' grits without extra cheese.

Grits topped with some kind of salsa are yummy, especially a spicy fresh tomato salsa, so that's an essential for me, with or without cheese, with or without shrimp. And then the shrimp. I've done the shrimp numerous ways: a quick pan-fry or something I clipped from I don't know where called Southern Barbecue Shrimp. You preheat the broiler and cover a sheet pan with foil. Then mix melted butter, worcestershire sauce, a tablespoon or so of golden sugar, fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of Old Bay or other seafood seasoning and toss the shrimp to coat. Arrange them on the sheet and broil, turning them over at half-time; only takes a couple of minutes per side. Using Old Bay and worcestershire doesn't seem very southern, but so it goes.

So, I plate the grits, top with salsa and then top that with shrimp. I drizzle on any extra shrimp sauce from the bowl or the foil and that's my shrimp 'n' grits.

As for a substitute for grits, well, couldn't you use a coarse-ground polenta? Actually I've stopped using polenta altogether, and if I'm cooking Italian I just make grits instead and tell everyone it's polenta.

Edited to add some prices: I just looked at the three on-line sources mentioned. Anson Mills sells 12 oz. of grits for $5.95. Hoppin Johns sells 2 lbs grits for $7.50. Oakview Farms seems to have a great deal: 2 lbs for $5.25. I didn't price shipping.

Edited by Katie Meadow, 22 February 2011 - 09:16 AM.

[rmillman]

I generally used Anson Mills: I like the yellow quick grits and the pencil grits have a corn-nutty taste that my wife likes.

[JBailey]

Jack Fry's restaurant on Bardstown Road in Louisville features Shrimp and Grits in a Red Eye gravy. Theirs also includes tomatoes, country ham and shitake mushrooms. According to one source, they use both milk and whipping cream (4 cups to one) in the grits preparation.

[DTBarton]

I really like the white stone ground grits from Carolina Plantation. http://www.carolinaplantationrice.com/

As a bonus, order some rice as well. The Carolina Gold rice is superb for risotto.

[Brown Hornet]

My standard shrimp & grits methodology is almost identical to BadRabbit's and seems to be one of the more common preparations here in Georgia. The red pepper and tomatoes provide a nice balance of sweetness and acidity.

For the grits I like to simmer equal parts whole milk and chicken stock with some garlic and fresh thyme and then use this liquid to cook the grits. I generally finish the grits with some butter or cream and maybe some freshly grated parm. I'm not sure what others do, but I typically season grits at the end of cooking -- when I season at the beginning they tend to get too salty at the end.

Last, the use of stone ground grits (as opposed to quick/instant grits) can't be overemphasized. As a transplanted midwesterner, I used to hate grits until I was exposed to real stone ground grits when I moved south about 16 years ago. As others have noted, Anson Mills produce great stone ground grits.

[catdaddy]

My shrimp&grits mentor was Bill Neal of Crooks Corner fame (Chapel Hill, NC) back in the 80s. For him it was a breakfast dish fancied up for dinner.

Grits were either Quaker or Martha White----nothing fancy there. They were cooked with water then seasoned with sharp Vermont cheddar, parmigiano, butter, cayenne, and salt and pepper.

The mis en place for the saute included rendered bacon bits, sliced mushrooms, peeled shrimp, chopped garlic, sliced scallions, tabasco, and lemon juice. It was a quick relatively dry cook in half bacon fat half canola with things going into the pan in the above order. Cheese grits on the plate then the shrimp scattered right on top.

This is one of the simplest and most called for dishes I know.

[BadRabbit]

I forgot to mention hot sauce or crushed red pepper. I always add one or the other. I like to use a relatively hot sauce because Tabasco and other milder sauces add too much vinegar to a dish that already has enough acid. I mostly use the red El Yucateco habanero sauce.

[SaltySnack]

Can you find any type of coarsely ground corn?

Not that I've seen; this is a smallish town, and I'm trying to think whether there's any speciality shop I've missed; I don't think so. So, I'm going to be making shrimp and quinoa.

Shrimp and Quinoa?????? what sacrilege! Perhaps you will discover some new fantastic dish, but I just imagine the nutty taste of quinoa clashing with the shrimp. Grits are bland and generic that's why they are so great as a base especially for butter, salt and cheese. Quinoa has a definite flavor profile. I just don't think you are going to get the same results by using quinoa. but by all means please try it and report back.

[BadRabbit]

Can you find any type of coarsely ground corn?

Not that I've seen; this is a smallish town, and I'm trying to think whether there's any speciality shop I've missed; I don't think so. So, I'm going to be making shrimp and quinoa.

Shrimp and Quinoa?????? what sacrilege! Perhaps you will discover some new fantastic dish, but I just imagine the nutty taste of quinoa clashing with the shrimp. Grits are bland and generic that's why they are so great as a base especially for butter, salt and cheese. Quinoa has a definite flavor profile. I just don't think you are going to get the same results by using quinoa. but by all means please try it and report back.

Agree. I believe I'd try something like pulsing hominy to close to the right consistency before I jumped all the way over to quinoa.


Edit: Changed suggestion to hominy.

Edited by BadRabbit, 22 February 2011 - 12:00 PM.

[Marya D.]

So, what's the difference between grits & polenta?

[BadRabbit]

So, what's the difference between grits & polenta?

They are generally made from different strains of corn and polenta is generally a little finer grind (though still relatively coarse). Some grits are also made from hominy while I don't think you ever see polenta made from lye soaked kernels.

Though yellow grits are widely available now, they are not the norm while most (all?) polenta is yellow.

Edited by BadRabbit, 22 February 2011 - 01:59 PM.

[Marya D.]

Can I use polenta meal instead of grits or will it be essentially wrong?
I'm not a very good rule follower. Yesterday morning I made Kongee with steel cut oats (I liked it, anyway.)

Edited by Marya D., 22 February 2011 - 03:49 PM.

[Chris Amirault]

It wouldn't be essentially wrong. It's ground corn, after all. Now grits with oats = not grits.

[KaffeeKlatsch]

I can vouch for Callaway Gardens Stone Ground Grits.

[kayb]

1. BadRabbit, are you speaking of the Hot & Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Ala.? They have a cookbook? Please tell me where I can acquire same, ASAP! Love that place!

2. Polenta will work just fine. You can take some regular coarse ground cornmeal and make the equivalent of polenta/grits. Perhaps it is a different strain of corn, but the major difference is the grind -- grits are coarser than polenta, which are coarser than cornmeal, which is coarser than masa harina.

3. Grits sources: Two good ones which ship nationally Delta Grind, of Water Valley, MS -- http://www.deltagrind.com/contact.html -- and War Eagle Mill in War Eagle, Arkansas -- http://www.wareaglem...c808pz769zblj34 (a five-pound bag for $7.95).

4. The grits for shrimp and grits should be made with half-and-half whole milk and water, and plenty of kosher salt, finished with butter and cheese. I prefer smoked Gouda, myself, but your mileage may vary. I also like to let my grits cool and form into a nice solid mass, which I then slice and fry to get a nice crispy grit-cake outside with a creamy inside.

5. Shrimp to go over the grits are of two basic categories: The creamy sauce, and the non-creamy sauce. Neither is preferable to the other; it's what you're in the notion for and what your pantry accommodates on a given night.

Non-creamy shrimp-and involves sauteeing whatever aromatics you choose -- I don't do the trinity because, well, I don't like celery and I don't like bell pepper. I usually saute onion and garlic and occasionally diced carrots. I'll add some white wine, let it cook down, finish off with chicken broth and whatever seasonings I'm in the mood for, poach the shrimp in that, reduce until it's as thick as I want it, and go. In the alternative, I will brown andouille or tasso or even bacon, use the rendered fat to saute the onion and garlic, and add coffee and water for a good old red-eye gravy (if you wrap the shrimp in bacon and broil them, you then have Mr. B's Bistro shrimp and grits, which are marvelous).

Creamy shrimp and grits starts out the same way, adds some tomato paste to the aromatics, then the wine (can be either white or red) (I have used Marsala when it was at hand), and seasonings, including Pick-A-Peppa sauce, which is critical to a good sauce, and finished off with a healthy pouring of heavy cream which is never brought to the boil stage. Shrimp go in when the wine does, and cook in the base for the sauce.

You can also, as I did in this dish, repurpose cooked cocktail shrimp that were left over from a reception the night before; just put them in the sauce when you're heating it back up after you've added the cream. All you want to do is bring them to sauce temperature.


Garnish with some chopped scallions, and enjoy!

Edited by kayb, 22 February 2011 - 06:37 PM.

[BadRabbit]

Yes, Kayb. I live in B'ham so that's the Hot & Hot of which I speak. I bought mine at Barnes & Noble. It's a really well done book that's set up in two month chapters so that everything is seasonal. Highly recommend.

[David Ross]

I've never made Shrimp and Grits. Don't know why because I've always thought it looked and sounded like a delicious dish. Regarding the shrimp, does it matter what size of shrimp you use? For the shrimp and grits cooks out there, do you notice a difference in the dish in terms of texture or flavor if you use small shrimp as opposed to the more larger sizes? Finally, is it acceptable to grill the shrimp on an outdoor barbecue grill to get some char on them before combining them with the grits?

[Brown Hornet]

I've never made Shrimp and Grits. Don't know why because I've always thought it looked and sounded like a delicious dish. Regarding the shrimp, does it matter what size of shrimp you use? For the shrimp and grits cooks out there, do you notice a difference in the dish in terms of texture or flavor if you use small shrimp as opposed to the more larger sizes? Finally, is it acceptable to grill the shrimp on an outdoor barbecue grill to get some char on them before combining them with the grits?

The great thing about shrimp and grits is that it is a fairly flexible combination and almost any variation will come out pretty tasty.

In terms of size I usually use 25-30 shrimp which seems to work well, but I'm not sure different sizes would make too big of a difference. I think any shrimp size between 20-30 would work well. I've never tried grilling the shrimp for shrimp and grits, but why not. The only potential drawback is the smokiness of grilled shrimp may overpower the mildly sweet and nutty flavor of the grits. I think I'll try grilling the next time I make shrimp and grits!