Cheesy Shrimp and Grits

This super simple recipe for shrimp and grits is a classic way to start the new year right! This week’s episode of Lawyer in the Kitchen will show you how to take boring old shrimp and grits to a whole new level with just a few extra steps. Enjoy!

There are two important things to do to make perfect shrimp and grits and I’m going to tell you about both of them welcome to lawyer in the kitchen today we’re going to make shrimp and grits and these are going to be fantastic and there’s really two things that you

Really want to make sure you have to do this you want to cook the shrimp quickly hot and under done that’s number one number two you want the the the Grits to be nice and creamy with butter cream and some cheese and we’re going to Fresh grate some cheddar cheese to do that

Don’t buy the package it’s it’s better to grate it it’ll melt better it’ll be smoother this is what you want we’re get about 2 oz of sharp cheddar uh we’ve got just stone ground grits these are not quick or instant grits you want to have you want a 20 minute cooking grits I

Mean those of you watch my cousin Vinnie you can’t cook a grit in less than 20 minutes Emerald’s Cajun seasoning for the shrimp and a little more Cayenne I’m going to pickle some red chilies more a little bit of heat and a little bit of

Color to it and then we’re going to have some green onions and of course just a little bit of fresh lemon juice we’ve got about a pound of shrimp uh these are I think 22 20 30 I know so anyhow these are not too big you

Don’t want you don’t want gig shrimp you want something you can get on a spoon or a fork along with the grits and I’ll have it all in one bite all right we’re going to thinly slice these chilies and I got to get a better knife these are tough these are some

Tough Birds I tell you what I know this knife is Shar ah there we go and these are going to add some heat and then pickling them this is very simple to pickle all we’re going to do is put in about a half a cup of vinegar white distilled vinegar 5%

Essentially and a little bit of sugar about a tablespoon and that’s looking good right there that’s plenty and we’re going to leave the seeds and everything in so I’m going to go ahead and put in about a half half a cup of white vinegar and maybe just a little

More and then I’m going to go ahead and put the sugar in about a tablespoon and we’re going to go ahead and Heat this up we’re going to use this on the stove all right I’ve got the vinegar and the sugar is boiling nicely and that’s all we’re going to do

Is just pour that in here and they’re good covered that’s fine they’re going to sit in 30 minutes these will be fine it’s going to take us about 30 minutes to do the shrimp and the Grits so this is going to work out just right this is exciting for me

Because this is one of my Christmas presents from my wife and I had a pan and I loved it and now I have some more pots so we’re this is the first time right here right before your eyes we’re going to do this in this pot and I have

A cup and a/4 of water the shells from the shrimp into that water just said no it’s may be getting low on gas no I guess we aren’t we’re not getting low we still have eyebrows yeah of course all right so we’re just going to cook these for a

Couple of minutes just enough to get some of that shrimp flavor into the water the first known recipe for shrimp shrimp and grits occurred about 1950 in Charleston South Carolina the dish became so popular that in 1976 South Carolina declared shrimp and grits as the official state food the gulla people

Of South Carolina’s low country are believed to be the first folks to make this combination traditionally this was a breakfast dish this became more of a national dish in the 1980s when a food writer Craig Clayborn wrote about the dish using bacon which is now we are

Going to do it today all right look at the color of the water already it’s already taken on Flavor from those shells and we’re just going to let them get nice and pink and then that’s going to be it all right so we got this boiling and I’m going to turn this

Off and that’s the wrong way for off so see how much of this I can get in the pot a got it yeah I think so all that water notice how these pots have a lip for pouring that’s how you’re supposed to do it I know but you know what the

Lip is on the wrong side yeah if you do this that way you could do it that way yeah if you look at this water it’s got a little translucency to it it’s got flavor in it and it’s going to have more of a shrimp taste and how much effort

Was that really nothing okay all right let’s get this going again I’m pour the grits in that’s a/2 cup you know whatever your box says to use that’s do that I’m going to put already into it I’m going to go ahead and add a little salt I don’t know if it says to

But we’re doing that and we’re going to cook these for 20 minutes I’m going to let it come to a boil and turn it down all right so we’ve got this cooked on on very low we’re going to cover it turn it all the way

Down and we’re look at about 15 to 20 minutes in the meantime I’ll get my cheese ready I’m going to grate that myself that’s going to be much better got the cream out got the butter the cream and the cheese the Grits have cooked for about 15 a little more than

15 minutes I’m going to turn them off completely and put the cheese in and stir that in we’re going to let the heat of the Grits melt the cheese we’re not going to add anything to it and that’s melting nicely now see if you Ed the bag cheese this wouldn’t melt this

Nicely ooh that does look good yeah this is going to be right and now we’re going to put in some butter this is a little more than 2 Tablespoons nothing makes something creamier than Cream and we’re just going to we don’t want to get too Soupy and then I’m going to set this on as low as will go on my other burner just to keep it warm while we cook the bacon to get ready to cook the shrimp and we’re going to fry this crispy and save the Bacon fat and the drippings and all that to

Cook the shrimp in okay so I’m going to cook this on the stove because the ventilation is a lot better yeah that’s nice and cut up that’s good Okay so we’ve got the bacon pulled out I’ve got it draining on some paper towels I’m going to go ahead and turn this

On get this pretty hot the Pan’s already kind of hot and then while that’s getting nice and warm I’m going to go ahead and take some of this Cajun seasoning and that’s enough right there and I’m going to add just a little bit of kayen and I’m going to do this in my

Hand so I don’t get too much that’s about an eighth of a teaspoon and then we’re going to mix that up with one of these whisks use a finger whisk all right and we’ve got our shrimp in a bowl this Pan’s getting smoking hot and I’m going to turn it down just a

Little bit not too much all right and I’m going to mix this up Nicely and I’m going to put a little more in here I’m not happy with that I got enough Cay be happy with it I got to be happy with it all right that pan is smoking hot it is all right it’s time to put these in here I’m just

Going to put them all in here at once and get them spread out quickly at most 90 seconds these will cook a little bit more after they come out we want them to be underdone to begin with the Cayenne coming through baby all right I’m going to flip

Them and that is it oh man the Cayenne is strong and they’ll cook some more they’ll finish cooking all nestled up against each other that’s pretty much ready a look at these oh look at at those are they not right look at how creamy they Are ah they’re not rubbery you can feel that they’re right right there how’s that pretty all right now a little bit of bacon Little bit of onion I’m going to save a little bit for that a few of these Fresno and these are I wish these were Fresnos these are just red chilies okay we’re ready to taste this I think I’m going to use a spoon uh and I’m not going to put the

Chili in there cuz the chilies are hot but if you like hot that should be good all right you want the first bite listen it’s that steam in there that nice tell you what if you don’t like that there’s something wrong with you the shrimp are perfect they’re not overcooked but they’re completely

Cooked the creaminess and the cheese and the Grits you tell me about it that’s a big old bite that’s a good old bite right there is there is there pepper there is a pepper yep that’s a big bite that’s a great bite M are those grits creamy mhm shrimp or done not

Overcooked lots of flavor mhm you like it mhm all right I’d appreciate it if you like And subscribe I’ll see you next time on why do you do this every time have a mouthful on while you’re in the kitchen [Applause] l