Shrimp and Grits is a dish I grew to love while living in Charleston, South Carolina, years ago. This is a dish I respect, so it’s important to me that it’s made well.
The dish itself is ubiquitous of the culture and lifestyle in that area, the coastal Carolinas, known as The Low Country. It’s a combination of cooked grits and cooked shrimp, covered in a gravy made with shrimp shells and cooked bacon and then garnished with green onions and parsley. Sometimes you’ll see variations with peppers and or mushrooms, but the other ingredients I already mentioned are always components.
Grits are a touchy topic for people who live or have lived for any significant time in the south. What I mean by this, is that anything but high quality grits for dishes like this aren’t worth being used. At all. Don’t even mention quick grits. In a pinch, you can use polenta or coarse corn meal, but never quick grits. I actually have my grits mailed to me from across the country and have several varieties stored in my freezer. The grits I am using for this recipe come from Anson Mills in Charleson. Arguably the gold standard. You can buy them here: https://ansonmills.com/
I really try not to criticize the Shrimp and Grits I find out here on the West Coast too often, even though I invariably tell Lisa how much they got wrong. It’s never terrible; it’s just way off the mark usually. I think maybe one in twenty times it will kind of resemble Shrimp and Grits. If you’ve never had real Shrimp and Grits, I beg you to follow this recipe without any variation, no matter how hard that may be for you. It’ll be worth it, I promise. You can find the full recipe and also let us know what you think on our website:
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:12 Making the Grits
00:52 Prepping Veggies & Bacon
01:40 Prepping Shrimp & Stock
02:58 Making the Gravy
03:58 Final Touches and Service
04:19 Conclusion
Pots and Pans: Vintage Griswold Cast Iron No. 7, Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Round Dutch Oven, 5.5 qt, MadeIn 10 Inch Carbon Steel, All-Clad, Assorted Emeril Lagassi Cookware (OEM All-Clad) Knives: Global, Sabatier, Henkels Blenders I use: Vitamix Ascent Deep Fryer: T-fal 3.5L Stainless Steel Deep Fryer All my utensils are assorted from over 30 years of collecting. We are not sponsored.
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Shrimp and grits. It’s a dish I grew to love while
living in Charleston, South Carolina years ago. This is a dish I respect, so it’s important to
me that it’s made well. Let’s get cooking! To make the grits, which we’ll be cooking while
we make the shrimp component, we first melt 1 tbsp of butter in a medium saucepan over medium
heat. Then add the grits and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. We then add
milk, water, 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt. Then we increase our heat to medium high and bring it to
a boil. Once boiling, we reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, whisking often until thick and
creamy, which takes about 25 minutes. After the time elapses, we remove the pot from the heat and
stir in two tablespoon of butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. We then cover to keep
them warm while we finish up the rest of the dish. My recipe uses diced green bell peppers. Like
a typical mirepoix you might find with carrots, celery and onion. In the south, green bell
peppers are often used in lieu of carrots. For that reason, I like to use them here. Although we
don’t use the aforementioned onions or celery, the peppers add what I think is a needed flavor and
texture. Before getting to the shrimp and bacon, I cut the cheeks or the sides of a large lemon and
squeeze out the juice. When you cut just the side of citrus like lemons or limes, you don’t have the
center pithy part and it’s much easier to extract the juice. Another required ingredient, bacon,
is now cut into strips or roughly diced. Beside the smoky flavor, the bacon fat will provide much
of the needed fat for the gravy we’ll be making. When you’re picking out shrimp, try to get large
shrimp. And if you’re using frozen, which I often have to, try to find ones which haven’t been
injected with any weird preservatives. The only ingredient on the package should be shrimp
if you can help it. Also, for this recipe, you need the shells. Get about a pound and a
half and when thawed, peel them and reserve them and their shells in two separate bowls.
Finally, if the shrimp still have a poop vein, using a pairing knife, slice along the shrimp
lengthwise, making a small incision. With the same knife, you can remove the vein. I know it’s
gross, but so is eating it. To make the stock, first we melt 1 tbsp of butter in a heavy bottom
pot or skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp shells and cook, stirring occasionally until the
shells are spotty brown, about 7 minutes. We then stir in some tomato paste for body and cook for
30 seconds. Then we add water and bring it to a boil. Once at a boil, we reduce the heat to
low, cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes. Next, we strain the shrimp stock through a fine
mesh strainer set over a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible and
then discard the shells. You should have about 1 and 1/2 cups of stock. If not, you can add more
water if necessary to equal 1 and 1/2 cups. Then, wipe out the pot or pan you’re using with a towel.
In the now empty pan, we cook the bacon over medium low heat until crisp, about 7 to 9 minutes.
We increase the heat to medium high and stir in the shrimp, garlic, a large pinch of salt, and
pepper. Cook the shrimp until the edges are just beginning to turn pink, but not overcooked,
about 2 minutes. We now transfer the shrimp mixture to a bowl. I’d say about half the classic
southern dishes like this have a step like this, which brings it all together. We melt butter
in the same pan over medium heat. Next comes some flour, and we cook for 1 minute. Slowly, we
then whisk in our shrimp stock until incorporated. Bring that to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium
low and then simmer until thickened slightly, about 5 more minutes. Now is where all your
hard work pays off. Stir in the shrimp mixture, cover, and cook until the shrimp are cooked
through, about 3 more minutes. Off heat, we stir in the lemon juice, some hot sauce, and
about 1 tbsp of butter. Finally, we season with salt and pepper to taste. It’s now time to serve
up. I found some dinner bowls a little over a year ago and I love them for this. We spoon in about
a cup of our warm grits and then generously add as much of the shrimp and gravy as you’d like. For
garnish, sprinkle over the top with scallions and maybe another squeeze of lemon juice. And make
sure you bring that bottle of hot sauce with you to the dinner table. I really try not to
criticize the shrimp and grits I find out here on the West Coast too often. It’s never terrible.
It’s just way off the mark usually. I think maybe one in 20 times it’ll kind of resemble shrimp and
grits. If you’ve never had real shrimp and grits, I beg you to follow this recipe without any
variation. No matter how hard that may be for you, it’ll be worth it. I promise. Thanks again
for sticking around this long. If you like what you saw, you can find the full recipe on our
website, recipesrecommended.com. Also, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
If you have a recipe you think we should make, send us a message and we’ll check it out. We may
also make a video. We thank you for joining us and please don’t forget, great minds eat alike.
I eat shrimp like you for breakfast. [Music]
1 Comment
This looks delicious. I love grits but never think of them. Thank you for this one I'm going to try it. 😊