Shrimp and grits, with shrimp, cooked grits, and bacon and tomatoes.
INGREDIENTS:

2 to 3 slices bacon
grits, for 4 to 6 people
1 to 1 1/2 pounds shrimp
1 small onion, finely minced
1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes with juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste
PREPARATION:

From McGentry
Cook 2-3 slices bacon until done but still tender, set aside. Prepare grits per directions, adding a small finely minced onion before starting cook time, clean shrimp, when grits are almost done, chop shrimp into halfs, crumble up bacon and toss both into grits.

For the grits:
2 cups water
2 TBL butter or margarine
1/2 cup grits, uncooked
1/2 cup milk, divided
1/4 tsp salt

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon & set aside. Saute green pepper, mushrooms & garlic in bacon drippings. Sprinkle flour over vegetables & cook, stirring constantly about 2 minutes. Add broth & next 7 ingredients. Cook 5 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Keep warm.
For grits, bring water & butter to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Stir in grits & return to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat & cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until thick, continuing to stir. Stir in 1/4 cup milk; simmer 10 minutes. Salt. Add remaining 1/4 cup milk; simmer 10 minutes. Serve shrim mixture over cooked grits. Top w/crumbled bacon & parsley.~~

Maureen, this is not a recipe but its the best shrimp and grits I ever had! (Yes, I know I'm not much help, but you just reminded me of Nirvana :-)

2 slices of country bacon cut into bits (fairly lean and as thick as Canadian bacon)
~4 rings of frozen peppers (unknown heat - turned out to be sweet)
6 white button mushroom sliced thickly
6 spring onions sliced into rings and put into two batches
1/2 can diced tomatoes with musrooms and garlic
20 peeled shrimp (fairly large)
1/2 tsp dried powdered jalapenos

I sauted the bacon till crisp and I'd cut this into really tiddly bits
Added the mushrooms, sauted them a bit
Added the peppers and tested the heat-mild! so I added the jalapeno powder
Plunk the tomatoes in and reduce a bit
Tossed in one half of the green onions
Place the shrimp so they rested in/on the mix and cooked till pink on one side and then turned over.

At this point I turned the heat off, and took the shrimp out. The liguid was thinner than I wanted so I reduced it a bit more till it looked as dry as I wanted.

Put three sauted polenta rounds in my dinner bowl, added about 8 shrimp, and topped with a bunch of sauce. Added some more chopped onions...and
enjoyed it thoroughtly.

You'll note there was no mention of salt and pepper. Yes, I forgot but it was good without. I went back for one more polenta round, and a couple more shrimp and added a few grains (literally) of salt and it was even better. However, the fresh sea taste of the shrimp was good enough without.

And please don't use instant grits! They aren't fit for hog slop.

Love shrimp and cheese grits. Restaurants, here, are serving fried green tomatoes with shrimp grits, delicius!!

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GARLIC SHRIMP WITH BLEU CHEESE GRITS
Serves 4
For the grits
1 cup grits
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. (freshly ground) black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 ozs. bleu cheese, or to taste **I prefer asaigo cheese
For the shrimp
11/2 lbs. medium-sized or larger shrimp, peeled
3 large cloves garlic
3 Tbsps. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. (freshly ground) black pepper

Cook grits according to package directions in water (usually 4 cups water to 1 cup grits) with the 1 teaspoon salt added. When grits are tender and thick, remove from heat and stir in black pepper and cayenne and bleu cheese. Meanwhile, peel shrimp if necessary. Mince garlic or run it through a press. Melt butter in a wide skillet set on medium heat. Add garlic and stir 1 minute. Add shrimp, increase heat to high and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until shrimp is opaque. Season with salt and pepper. Serve beside or over grits.

Along with fresh fruit, and their own hash browns.

Charleston Shrimp & Grits (for 2 or 3)

Creamy Grits
1/2 cup stone ground grits (DO NOT substitute instant, quick, or any other kind...won't taste the same)
2 cups chicken broth
1/3 stick butter
1 - 1 1/2 cups milk
3-4 oz cream cheese
1/4 tsp salt

Bring broth and butter to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat to simmer and stir in grits and 1/4 tsp. salt. Continue stirring til grits stop boiling and are barely simmering and well incorporated. Add salt and continue to stir often so grits don't stick or scorch. Add milk as needed when grits get too thick. Cook for 40-50 minutes, stirring often and checking consistency. (It should be much thicker than gravy but thinner than mashed potato.) Cut cream cheese in pieces, add to grits and stir in well.

Shrimp & Gravy
1/2 - 3/4 lb peeled, deveined, raw shrimp
1 lemon
3 slices bacon
1 med. green pepper, chopped
1 med. white onion, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 heaping tablespoons flour
1-2 cups chicken broth
black pepper (to taste)
hot pepper (to taste - there should be a bit of spark)
chopped fresh parsley

Clean shrimp; sqeeze lemon juice on top and set them aside to drain. (You may use frozen shrimp that are defrosted.)

Cut bacon in small pieces and cook in a large skillet til crispy. Drain bacon on paper. Pour off all but 2-3 tablespoons of bacon grease.

In bacon grease in the same skillet, brown onion and green pepper; cook til softened but not brown. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir til moistened. Add black pepper and hot pepper according to taste. Cook, stirring, for about a minute and add about 1 - 2 cups chicken broth all at once. Stir, scraping all browned bits from the sides of the skillet. Continue stirring, adding more chicken broth if gravy seems too thick, for about 5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook just til shrimp are barely done - don't overcook.

Serve shrimp over creamy grits. Garnish with bacon bits and chopped parsley.

Can you tell I'm from the South?

I thnk I'll have to sample all these recipes since they all have good points, tho I too would pass on the blue cheese in the grits. maureen

Some of the Charleston restaurants serve it by merely mixing cooked shrimp with commercial barbecue sauce. It takes more time to prepare it right, but the results are more than worthwhile:

2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

for the grits:

4 cups water
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 lb butter
salt & white pepper to taste
2 cups stone-ground or quick grits (certainly not! instant)

for the sauce:

1/4 lb bacon, diced
1 cup red onion, finely diced
1 cup red bell peper, diced
1 cup green bell pepper, diced
3-4 tbls Southern Comfort
1 bottle (14 oz) ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
salt & pepper to taste

For the grits, bring the water and cream to boil in a large saucepan. Add the butter and salt & pepper to taste. Slowly stir in the grits. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. If the grits are too thick, stir in extra water as needed (up to 1/2 cup). Set aside, covered, to keep warm.

For the sauce, cook the bacon in a medium saucepan until almost crisp. Add the onion and bell peppers. Saute until onion is translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add the Southern Comfort to the pan and carefully ignite the liquor. Whe flames die, stir in the ketchup and brown sugar. Season with salt & pepper. Simmer sauce over medium low heat for 10 minutes.

Bring about 6 cups lightly salted water to a boil. Add the shrimp and reduce heat to low. Gently poach the shrimp until they are pink and just opaque through, 3-5 minutes.

Drain the shrimp well, then add them to the hot barbecue sauce. Warm over low heat for one minutes. Spoon portions of warm grits into indivdual serving plates and top with some of the shrimp & sauce mixture.

(btw, do you have any photos of your garden beds? I like that idea tho I have very little sunlight in my own garden. I do have two composte bins though..) Maureen

Shrimp Florentine over Tomato Grits

Tomato Grits:
2 cups water
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoons salt
1 cup quick cooking grits
1 stick butter, plus 1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup green onions, diced
6-ounce garlic cheese roll
2 1/2 cups Cheddar, shredded
10-ounce can diced tomatoes and green chiles
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Shrimp Florentine:
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove minced garlic
12 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 to 2 lemons juiced
White wine, for deglazing
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Grand Padana
2 cups fresh spinach, packed down
1 dash ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
To make the tomato grits, in a saucepan, bring the water and milk to a boil. Add the salt. Slowly add the grits and return to a boil; stir for 1 full minute. (The secret to preparing good grits is the initial stirring of the pot.) Reduce the heat, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir the grits and add 1 stick of butter, stirring until it has melted. Cover and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the grits are thick and creamy. Remove from the heat and set aside. Saute the onions in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter for 1 minute. Add the garlic cheese, 1 1/2 cups Cheddar, and onions to the grits, and stir until cheese is melted. Add the tomatoes and green chiles and mix well; stir in the beaten eggs. Pour the grits into a greased 8 by11 by 2-inch casserole. Bake the casserole for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the casserole for the last 5 minutes of cooking time.
To make the Shrimp Florentine, start with 1 tablespoon butter in saute pan. Add minced garlic and shrimp. Deglaze with lemon and wine. Add cream, cheese and spinach. Reduce, season, to taste, with salt and pepper and pour over grits.

Leslie

And as Teresa said, don't use instant gritsl Yuck. . .