Shrimp and Grits

[MetsFan5]

All I currently have in terms of shrimp in the house are frozen and cooked shrimp. I’m assuming if I tried to make shrimp and grits with them it would be heresay or at the least not come out tasting well. Am I right? 

[gfweb]

5 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

All I currently have in terms of shrimp in the house are frozen and cooked shrimp. I’m assuming if I tried to make shrimp and grits with them it would be heresay or at the least not come out tasting well. Am I right? 

 

I use frozen shrimp all the time.  I suspect that the "fresh "shrimp that the supermarkets have has been frozen at some point anyway.

[heidih]

I thought she meant cuz alreay cooked. So perhaps have to be added last minute after sauce built

[gfweb]

34 minutes ago, heidih said:

I thought she meant cuz alreay cooked. So perhaps have to be added last minute after sauce built

 Hmm. . I read two types of shrimp...frozen or cooked. You may well be right.  @MetsFan5 cooked from frozen  or what ?  And welcome to the world of dog faces!

[MetsFan5]

Cooked and frozen. Not frozen raw shrimp. I keep them on hand for a quick shrimp cocktail. 

[MetsFan5]

I made @Kim Shook ‘s sherry shrimp and grits recipe tonight. 

  Despite having 15 years experience in the restaurant industry and a bachelors in hospitality management, I am a crappy home cook. My knife skills are likely those of a 3 year old. I’ve been taught again and again and I can’t master a technique and don’t trust myself. So the prep took me a while. I do have a food processor but it’s an 8 cup one and gadgets aren’t my forte either. 

 

  The end result was delicious. Both my husband and I were groaning because we kept going back for more. 

 

  I have white grits purchased from Charleston. I did their suggested addition of heavy cream and club soda towards the end and it was a success. I did think the cooking time to ratio of liquids was low but read that that is common. 

 

   I literally have no proper cooking skills or experiences because my mom is a very solid home chef that I never needed to learn how to cook and enjoyed the college diet of ramen, take out and grilled cheese. I also worked I’m fine dining restaurants so my post shift meals often included prime rib, shrimp de jounge, oysters, ahi tuna, etc. 

 

do many thanks to @Kim Shook for giving me a bit of confidence. 

 

  Perhaps I should start a thread; Meredith Learns to Cook at Age 38! 🤗

[gfweb]

35 minutes ago, MetsFan5 said:

@Kim Shook

@Kim Shook

 

  Perhaps I should start a thread; Meredith Learns to Cook at Age 38! 🤗

 

About when I learned...

[scubadoo97]

On July 16, 2018 at 8:06 PM, gfweb said:

 

I use frozen shrimp all the time.  I suspect that the "fresh "shrimp that the supermarkets have has been frozen at some point anyway.

Absolutely true 

[scubadoo97]

I'm a big fan of a little shrimp stock in my shrimp dishes.   No shell goes to waste without giving up some flavor 

[chromedome]

8 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

I made @Kim Shook ‘s sherry shrimp and grits recipe tonight. 

  Despite having 15 years experience in the restaurant industry and a bachelors in hospitality management, I am a crappy home cook. My knife skills are likely those of a 3 year old. I’ve been taught again and again and I can’t master a technique and don’t trust myself. So the prep took me a while. I do have a food processor but it’s an 8 cup one and gadgets aren’t my forte either. 

 

  The end result was delicious. Both my husband and I were groaning because we kept going back for more. 

 

  I have white grits purchased from Charleston. I did their suggested addition of heavy cream and club soda towards the end and it was a success. I did think the cooking time to ratio of liquids was low but read that that is common. 

 

   I literally have no proper cooking skills or experiences because my mom is a very solid home chef that I never needed to learn how to cook and enjoyed the college diet of ramen, take out and grilled cheese. I also worked I’m fine dining restaurants so my post shift meals often included prime rib, shrimp de jounge, oysters, ahi tuna, etc. 

 

do many thanks to @Kim Shook for giving me a bit of confidence. 

 

  Perhaps I should start a thread; Meredith Learns to Cook at Age 38! 🤗

Better late than never.

[blue_dolphin]

11 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

many thanks to @Kim Shook for giving me a bit of confidence. 

 

  Perhaps I should start a thread; Meredith Learns to Cook at Age 38! 🤗

 

Congrats for trying something new!  

I came upon a good reminder when I was consulting Samin Nosrat's recipe for Kuku Sabzi in her great book Salt Fat Acid Heat.  

There's a whole little pep talk about flipping the Kuku and then she says, "If something goes awry....don't freak out!  It's only lunch.  Just do your best....."  

Wise words to remember in the kitchen! 

[Okanagancook]

Just read this thread....a couple of comments.

 

if you have a Vitamix  there is a grain top that goes on the machine for making your own flour.  That would take care of the larger pieces of cornmeal.

 

Deb Madison cooks grits in a double boiler.  That’s the way I do mine now.  Bring the grits to a boil in the top part then put over simmering water for 60-90+ minutes checking the need to add more liquid from time to time.  No splattering and clean up I still super easy.

[ElsieD]

44 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Just read this thread....a couple of comments.

 

if you have a Vitamix  there is a grain top that goes on the machine for making your own flour.  That would take care of the larger pieces of cornmeal.

 

Deb Madison cooks grits in a double boiler.  That’s the way I do mine now.  Bring the grits to a boil in the top part then put over simmering water for 60-90+ minutes checking the need to add more liquid from time to time.  No splattering and clean up I still super easy.

I just checked my Vitamix and it would seem I have the dry grains top.  It holds 32 ounces.  Are you suggesting we sift à la @chromedome and then blitz the large pieces or throw it all in there?

[Okanagancook]

Yes, if you want them all the same size.  Probably won’t take long in the Vitamix.

[ElsieD]

9 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Yes, if you want them all the same size.  Probably won’t take long in the Vitamix.

 

Yes to sift first or just chuck the lot in there?

[Okanagancook]

Sorry, sift first then blitz the coarse bits.

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Okanagancook said:

Deb Madison cooks grits in a double boiler.  That’s the way I do mine now.

 

Vivian Howard's recipe for Foolproof Grits in Deep Run Roots also uses a double boiler and I've found this method works very well with the uneven stone-ground grits that I've ordered from a mill in South Carolina.  

She uses 1 cup grits and 3 1/4 cup of milk or other liquid and whisks occasionally for 25-40 minutes depending on the grind of the grits.

She also recommends using a tea strainer to skim off any bits of chaff that float to the top and it certainly helps produce a perfectly creamy result.

 

I can cook the evenly ground stuff in the Instant Pot but the uneven mix of particles in the stone-ground stuff really seems to need at least an occasional stir. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I tried and tried to not say anything ... It did not work. I have to smile and roll my eyes at all the machinations over cooking grits. But I know you folks are having fun with it and that is a great thing. At least our Southern grits are getting a wider audience, even if everyone seems to be making such a business out of a simple staple food.

 

When we lived in Vermont in the 70's it was impossible to get grits up there and it was before the internet and online ordering. We got a LOT of mail order stuff from the Sears and Roebuck catalog, but no grits offered. Our relatives on my Dad's side in Louisiana sent care packages with country ham and grits. The grits were the regular Quaker white ones that require no culinary magic to cook. 

[blue_dolphin]

14 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I tried and tried to not say anything ... It did not work. I have to smile and roll my eyes at all the machinations over cooking grits. But I know you folks are having fun with it and that is a great thing. At least our Southern grits are getting a wider audience, even if everyone seems to be making such a business out of a simple staple food.

 

When we lived in Vermont in the 70's it was impossible to get grits up there and it was before the internet and online ordering. We got a LOT of mail order stuff from the Sears and Roebuck catalog, but no grits offered. Our relatives on my Dad's side in Louisiana sent care packages with country ham and grits. The grits were the regular Quaker white ones that require no culinary magic to cook. 

 

Well, you did offer this comment:

On 7/14/2018 at 5:09 PM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

The grocery stores all offer white Quaker grits in instant or quick varieties. There may be more on offer, but I always grab the quick ones, making sure I don't pick up instant by mistake.

 

which told me that we surely live in different lands as there are no Quaker grits - quick, instant or any other in any grocery store I've been in!  But I do love trying new things and am as grateful that I can mail order grits as I am that I can get help in cooking them from folks here!

[Okanagancook]

I ordered some grits from Anson Mills....they are in the freezer and will be trying them soon.

 

TFTC. Great comments.

[ElsieD]

I just looked on their web site.  What kind did you get?

[gfweb]

Anyone ever sous vide grits?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

2 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Anyone ever sous vide grits?

 

Y'all are triggering my eyerolley response again. 

 

Grit on! You might actually come up with an innovation that will improve the standard prep. Or not. Have fun skimming off the chaff from your fancy, expensive grits. Just know that is not the norm for our staple here. Your fancy kind is probably better??

 

I am genuinely  delighted that such interest in a humble Southern staple has drawn the attention of such an erudite culinary community that I am so glad to be a part of.  I really do love y'all. This is the only place I feel comfortable coming to talk about the little nuances of food. So thanks for that. Still gonna laugh at these machinations over grits, though. 

 

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Y'all are triggering my eyerolley response again. 

 

Grit on! You might actually come up with an innovation that will improve the standard prep. Or not. Have fun skimming off the chaff from your fancy, expensive grits. Just know that is not the norm for our staple here. Your fancy kind is probably better??

 

I am genuinely  delighted that such interest in a humble Southern staple has drawn the attention of such an erudite culinary community that I am so glad to be a part of.  I really do love y'all. This is the only place I feel comfortable coming to talk about the little nuances of food. So thanks for that. Still gonna laugh at these machinations over grits, though. 

 

Lol. Turns out Anova's site has a SV grits recipe. 

[Okanagancook]

16 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I just looked on their web site.  What kind did you get?

Here is what I bought. 12 oz isn't a lot.  I have only used the Carolina Gold Rice so far...I have another pkg of regular grits to use first.  Give the double boiler method a try and cook them long enough that we aren't grainy, the get nice and smooth.  Just check the liquid level every 20 minutes or so.  Delicious.

 

•  Antebellum Coarse Yellow Grits - bag / 12 oz
• 6x Carolina Gold Rice - bag / 14 oz
• 1x Carolina Gold Rice Grits - bag / 12 oz
• 1x Colonial Coarse Pencil Cob Grits - bag / 12 oz
• 1x Laurel-Aged Charleston Gold Rice - bag / 14 oz
• 1x Rustic Polenta Integrale - bag / 12 oz
• 2x Charleston Gold Brown Rice - bag / 14oz
• 1x Sea Island Red Peas - bag / 14 oz

Edited July 21, 2018 by Okanagancook (log)