Posts tagged white cheddar
Greg’s Bday Breakfast – Part 1 (Southern Shrimp and Grits)
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This weekend was a really exciting one. My mother, 3 of my sisters and their children came up from Miami to visit for my husband’s bday on Saturday. For some odd reason, he wanted to show the kids a good time for HIS birthday. 
Anyway, I was very excited to cook for them and just HAD to prepare something special WHILE still sticking to the plan to continue to be adventurous in the kitchen. They are pretty critical so I was a little apprehensive. In the end, I decided to so with something old and something new; Bananas Foster French Toast (made with fresh croissants) and Cook’s Magazine’s- Southern Shrimp and Grits. I’ve made a shrimp and grits recipe before and it was good but this one was FANTASTIC. The other one (pictured in an earlier post) had awesome flavor that was combined with the shrimp before it topped the grits. In the current recipe, there was flavor ALL OVA THE PLACE!!! It was fantastic, simple, and the presentation was phenomenal!! I was so proud that my experimentation worked out because they are used to my mother’s fabulous cooking and I was very nervous.
SOUTHERN SHRIMP AND GRITS
RECIPE NOTES:
1-Do not sub instant grits here. 2-You MUST have an ovensafe skillet. (Don’t worry about buying anything fancy, make sure everything is metal (handles, enforcements, etc.) and that there is no rubber. The one I have is Wolfgang Puck (a gift from mom and dad that they tried to take back this weekend, lol. ) that I’ve had forever. 3-You can substitute smoked cheddar or smoked gouda for the extra-sharp cheddar.
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 onion, minced ( about 1 cup)
1 tea salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tes minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce
3 1/2 c water
1/2 c heavy cream
1 cup old-fashioned grits
6 oz extra sharp white cheddar, shredded (about 1 1/2 c)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 scallions, thinly sliced (+ 1 to add for garnish just before serving)
1/4 tea pepper (again, I like the large pepper flakes for appearance)
1 1/2 pound extra large shrimp (21 to 25 ct) *
Adjust oven rach to middle position and heat to 450 degrees. (When you can, please buy an oven thermometer. You’ll be more pleased with the outcome of your oven dishes and recipes won’t seem so off, lol. More than likely, the actual temperature of the oven is 25-50 degrees lower than the oven may report, $4.50)
Melt butter in a 12 in ovensafe skillet over med heat. Add onion and salt and cook until softened, 5 to 7 mins. Stir in garlic and chipolte and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir in water and cream and bring to boil. Slowly whisk in grits. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring freq., until grits are thick and creamy, about 15 mins. Off the heat, whisk in cheddar, eggs, scallions, and pepper. Lay the shrimp on their sides in a pinwheel formation over the grits and then press on them lightly to submerge about halfway. Bake the casserole untl the top is browned, the grits are hot and the shrimp are cooked through, about 15 mins. Let cool 15 mins before serving.
*Try to leave the tail meat on the shrimp (the fan part at the end) to give it lenght. I takes a little more time when cleanin gb/c if you’re like me, you just snatch that part off and keep it moving. Also, when placing the shrimp, stretch them out to get the pinwheel effect. It was definitely a crowd pleaser.
Haute Eggs
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As I told you, I’ve exhausted my Fiercefoodie budget for the month (or until Greg forgets) yesterday on my Patron. Nevermind the fact that he ate 2 cupcakes. Ummmhmmm…. Anyway, I noticed that I have no breakfast contributions on the site so I decided to try to get some daylight shots for a change (supposedly a key factor in food photography) and scramble some eggs. Plus, I was in no hurry to dirty my recently cleaned kitchen, so a one-pot dish was ideal. After a check around the fridge, I found a couple slices of oven roasted deli turkey, deli Muenster cheese, a little white cheddar, a shallot, sundried roasted tomatoes and a little heavy cream.
Of course, you can use ANYTHING for the scramble. Scrambles are quick and more forgiving than trying to fold your eggs over into an omelette. I can do it though (very slowly however) so don’t sleep on my skills. : ) But with the scramble, you get to stuff it with a lot more goodies that otherwise wouldn’t fit in that thin little envelope. Usually, I use leftover mushrooms, onions and peppers but apparently I haven’t cooked anything lately (if you let Mr. Ungrateful tell it, lol) Hey! Birthday girls eat out.
