Oh my…
Yo…
This is just…
I can’t even…
Man, listen…
I made the most delicious bowl of shrimp & grits and cried unicorn tears. Straight up. I don’t think there’s a word in the English dictionary that can describe how insanely delicious and delectable this was. Not only was it stupid simple to make, but it was flavored to perfection. It just…oh my goodness. Who run the world? Grits.
I’m going to try my best to give measurements here. If you know me, you know that I don’t measure anything (except for when I’m baking) because I tend to cook with feeling and soul. Not to toot my own horn here, but I put my foot in this dish 😉 The flavors go so well together. The slight milky zing of the cheese, the buttery lemon sauce, the spice and heat?? It changed my life.
I bought a big bag of frozen de-veined shrimp to nibble on over the next few days/weeks or so, so I only made this for myself using a few pieces of shrimp. This is a recipe for one, but if you’re cooking for more than one person, just double it, or triple it — whichever. I also used a very tiny bit of Pan Searing Flour from Wegmans, which is just flour, malted barley flour and a few spices. If you don’t have this, you can use plain all-purpose flour. Rice flour would also be tasty.
Shrimp & Parmesan Grits
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 1-2
Description
This recipe is for one, but you can easily double or even triple it. A helpful tip, season your shrimp first. Place seasoned shrimp in a small bowl and cover with a small plastic/ziploc bag full of ice to keep nice and cold while you prepare the rest of the dish.
Ingredients
For the shrimp:
- 6 to 8 regular sized shrimp, peeled and deveined and chilled
- 1 to 2 strips of bacon
- about 1 tsp [pan searing flour|http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=359393&storeId=10052&langId=-1] (reg. flour will also work)
- 1 heaping tbsp shallot, chopped
- 1 heaping tbsp green onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- chili powder to taste
- granulated garlic (or garlic powder) to taste
- onion powder to taste
- lemon pepper seasoning to taste
- cayenne pepper to taste
- Old Bay seasoning to taste
- kosher salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the grits:
- 1 cup water
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- 3 to 4 heaping tbsp quick grits (the 5 minute kind)
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
- Dash of: granulated garlic (or garlic powder), cayenne pepper, onion powder, Old Bay seasoning, lemon-pepper seasoning
Instructions
Preparing the grits
- In a small saucepan, add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
- While water is heating up, add the salt, remaining seasoning and half (2 tbsp) of the butter.
- Once water stars to boil, add your grits and immediately reduce heat to medium-low.
- Stir to make sure grits aren’t clumped together.
- Allow grits to cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, covered.
- After 5 minutes, stir and reduce heat to low.
- Grits will thicken quickly, but they still need a while to cook so that they aren’t grainy.
- Keep grits covered while cooking and stir every 3 to 5 minutes to check consistency.
- After about 15 minutes of total cooking time, give them a taste and season accordingly if need be.
- Add the heavy cream and remaining butter, and allow to cook an additional another 10 minutes over low heat.
- Add the cheese, stir and remove from heat.
- Keep the grits covered until ready to serve.
Preparing the shrimp:
- Season your shrimp. I didn’t measure the seasoning originally, so just eyeball this and use however much or little you’d like. When in doubt, use a little less than half of a teaspoon of each seasoning. Toss shrimp with flour and set aside.
- In a medium skillet, fry the bacon until crispy. Drain and set aside.
- Pour the bacon grease out, but leave the tasty bits stuck on the bottom of the pan.
- Bring the skillet back to the stove.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Drizzle a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil into the pan with 1 tbsp of the butter. Let that melt together, then add the chopped shallot. Allow that to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring around to prevent it from burning.
- Shake off any residual flour from each piece of shrimp and add to the pan on it’s side, allow shrimp to cook until pink on each side — about 2 to 3 minutes over medium-low heat.
- Flip shrimp to cook on other side. While it’s cooking, add the green onion, the remaining tablespoon of butter and the lemon juice. Do not overcook the shrimp, they will come out tough and rubbery and ruin the dish.
- A delicious buttery, lemony sauce has developed, and you’re so excited right now.
- Compose yourself, stir everything around and pour on top of your creamy parmesan grits. Aww yea, it’s coming together!
- Either chop or crumble up the slice of bacon, serve immediately, and enjoy you orgasm.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
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AHH MAZING!!
I didn’t have all the seasonings ( the paprika, chili, and onion powder, and bacon) but nonetheless, this dish came out GREAT!!
Thanks so so very much for sharing your awesome recipes! I can’t wait to try more! YUM!
★★★★★
This is an A+ recipe! My husband asked for seconds and my 1 year old loved the grits!
If I wanted to substitute fish instead of shrimp? Can I use the same instructions to cook the fish?
not entirely, you’d need to adjust cooking times depending on the kind of fish used.
Maaaaaaaaaaan, we had this for dinner tonight and it was EVERYTHING. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh my this recipe sounds slap yo momma good! Definitely trying this!
I made this for my God parents on Saturday and my God father was FLOORED! He was skeptical at first when he peeked in the kitchen and saw all of the spices, but from first bite he was in love. I talked to him yesterday and he was STILL talking about how good it was. Thanks!!!!
I made this Christmas morning for the family. It was so wonderful my husband took pictures as a constant reminder that I should make it again. It was a hit and rightfully so!
Awww!! LOL that’s awesome
LAWD HAVE MERCY!!! This is da BOMB!! I have tried several of your recipes and I have enjoyed them all…keep going young lady!! You cook betta than a lot of “grown” folk!!! Kudos to you!!
I tried this recipe and everyone LOVEDDDDDDDDDDDD it!
I made this yesterday for lunch and had wine with it. I almost slapped my mom with how good this was.
Lawd! I just made these and let me tell you….mmm mmm good!
Lordy Mercy! *dies*
I made this last week for a couple of friends and it was amazing…I can’t wait to make it again and again.
I made this. me and zoey tore this up.
You NEED a show on the Food Network! I would DVR it and never miss an episode.
YUM! I love shrimp & grits. Can’t wait to try this.
Hey Resha, how much bacon are you supposed to use?
Can you give some approximate measurements on the spices? “To taste” doesn’t really work for me as you can’t tell how it will all taste until it’s done. Plus I’d have to “taste” it so many times there would be nothing left by the time I was done! I really want to try this dish, though. Thanks!
I hear you, but to be honest, some people may not like a certain amount of chili powder or onion powder and this is such a personal dish that you really have to just play around with the flavors until you find something that suits you. I literally give a few shakes of each seasoning because after cooking with certain spices for so long, you learn how much to use and whatnot. You can always add more flavor later, but a good note is to taste each seasoning on its own. just tap a little on your finger and taste it, that will also help you gauge just how much to use. I’d hate to tell you 1 tsp of chili powder and you find it to be too overpowering, so just give it a few shakes, cook it, and if it’s not what you want, add more…you can always add more, but you can’t take it away. Plus, this is how you learn how to cook from instinct, by playing around with flavors. Just know that cayenne pepper is very hot, and I personally only use about 5 shakes of that total because that’s what I love, but some folks like it spicier or milder, so again, just play around with it and keep in mind you can always add it later once its cooked. cut one piece of shrimp in thirds so you can taste it three different times after re-seasoning/adjusting. Good luck!