SHRIMP AND GRITS

My daughter, Hannah has been telling me for several months now that she and her family like shrimp and grits and that I should try making it. I'm not a Southern gal. I was raised in Northern Indiana and then spent 30 years in MI. So up til now I had not had the opportunity to try it. It's definitely not a Northern dish! But let me tell you... this recipe packs a wallop of flavor! I think I would move it right up into the ranks of my top 10 favorites! I love shrimp anyway. And this just made me love it even more! Most of the recipes I read for this dish sounded quite bland - even those on the websites of popular TV chefs. But adding just the right spice to it, did the trick! If you like shrimp, you should put this on your menu for next week! It went together in a snap! I also don't use the regular white grits, but opted instead for polenta (yellow grits). Very yummy dish! And even better - hubby gave it a thumbs up! Not sure if it was because of the bacon that's added into the dish, but either way, he made me a happy woman! This one's going in the "keep" file!

SHRIMP AND GRITS

For the grits portion, I used my creamy polenta recipe that is featured on my blog in other places.

CREAMY POLENTA
1 1/2 cups low fat milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 (14 oz) can fat free, low sodium chicken broth
1 cup instant dry polenta
1/4 cup preshredded Parmesan, romano, asiago cheese blend (or just parmesan works too)
1/2 cup shredded, medium cheddar cheese
4 Tblsp butter


Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a med saucepan. Reduce heat to low and slowly add polenta, stirring constantly with a whisk, to prevent lumps. Cook 3 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add parmesan, cheese blend and butter, stirring until cheese melts. Serve immediately. If it seems to thick, add a little more milk. It should be the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes. Yield: 8 servings (1/2 cup). Keep warm while you prepare the shrimp.

FOR THE GRITS PORTION

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

 1 tsp Slap yer Momma seasoning (could also sub old bay, or your favorite Cajun seasoning)

6 slices bacon, chopped (I cut mine with my kitchen shears)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 cup thinly sliced green onions

1 large clove garlic, minced

 

Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Fry the bacon in a large skillet until browned; with slotted spoon, remove bacon to a separate bowl. In bacon fat that remains in skillet, add shrimp. Season with Slap yer Momma. Cook until shrimp turns pink. Add chopped bacon, parsley, green onions and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes.
Spoon grits into a serving bowl. Spoon shrimp mixture over top. (some say to stir the shrimp into the grits, but I think it presents nicer if you spoon it over the top) Serve immediately.
BLESSINGS!

CRUNCHY COATED FISH

We had a guest over the weekend. Sarah is a friend of my daughters, from Bible college. She is quite an industrious girl too! I must say, I've never had a guest that had so much initiative around the house or in the kitchen! She just jumped right in with both feet and helped with everything. I ended up relaxing in the living room. Which was nice, since I've been laid up with a bad back for almost a month now. Sarah insisted on making dinner one night, even though she claims to have never cooked a meal by herself before! When dinner was over, she helped clean up the dishes, mopped the floor, wiped down my garbage can and even cleaned my dog's place mat! For never having made a meal before, she sure picked a doozie for her first one! And I told her she had quite a lot of moxie fixing CATFISH for the king of fish frying (my Honey)! haha This crunchy coating could be used on any fish or even chicken. It was delicious. Hubby didn't care for the dijon mustard in one part of the dipping, but he said it was delicious over all. For that reason, I made the dijon mustard, optional. So to Sarah, goes a great big THANK YOU for a job well done!

CRUNCHY COATED FISH

1 lb fish filets
1/4 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1 Tblsp milk
3 Tblsp Dijon mustard (optional)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 cup coarsely crushed pretzels
2 Tblsp cooking oil
Thin lemon slices

Rinse fish filets and pat dry. In 3 separate containers, place the following: Container 1 - flour; container 2 - egg, milk, mustard and black pepper; Container 3 - crushed pretzels.
Heat oil to med - high. First roll fish filets in the flour, then dip them in the egg mixture, then coat them in the pretzel mixture. It is helpful to coat a panful at a time, so all the fish filets go in the skillet at the same time. Cook over med high heat for 3 - 4 minutes per side (depending on thickness of the filets), or until light golden brown. Carefully flip with spatula and cook on other side. If you are not familiar with cooking fish, you may want to check it with a fork. Stick the fork straight in and pull forward. If the fish "flakes" then it is done. If it is still tough and rubbery, it is not done. Once the fish is done, remove and drain on paper towels. Serve with lemon slices if desired.

SHRIMP SCAMPI

Don't you just love it when someone else does the cooking? I got to enjoy that wonderful treat tonight! My daughter, Hannah made dinner tonight. She chose this wonderful Shrimp Scampi dish and did a wonderful job on it. She has never made it before, but this one will be making an appearance on our table again! *NOTE* If you like a lot of sauce - just double the liquid in this (cooking wine, lemon juice and butter) not the veggies and herbs. She doubled both, but we all agreed, it was too much to double the latter. Very very tasty! The next time we have this, I'd like to try the WW skinny version of alfredo with it.

Shrimp Scampi

1 1/2 tsp olive oil
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1 1/2 tbsp shallot(s), finely chopped
1/4 cup white cooking wine, divided (sold next to the vinegar)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided
2 tsp parsley, fresh, minced
1 tsp thyme, fresh, minced
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 pound(s) shrimp, jumbo-size, shelled and deveined*
Instructions

* Warm a large skillet over a medium-low heat; add oil and heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Add shallots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the white cooking wine and 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice; stir, scraping bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are translucent, about 5 more minutes; allow to cool.

* In a small bowl, combine shallots, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper with softened butter; refrigerate until butter hardens (can be made 1 day ahead).

* Preheat oven to 475̊F.

* Using a medium-sized oven-proof casserole dish or skillet, arrange shrimp in a ring, tails up and touching one another for support; place bits of chilled herbed butter around shrimp. Pour remaining cooking wine and lemon juice in bottom of dish. (Or cook in four individual oven-proof dishes.)

* Roast in oven until shrimp turns pink and butter starts to sizzle, about 4 to 5 minutes. Yields about 3 jumbo shrimp per serving.

Notes

* Perfect for company, this dish looks great and is easy to prepare—especially when assembled in 4 individual oven-proof dishes. Make the butter ahead of time and have your shrimp already cleaned and on ice. When company arrives, just assemble the ingredients in a baking dish (or dishes) and pop in the oven.

*You can leaves the tails on if you prefer.

WW points value: 5 pts

* We couldn't afford the pricey jumbo shrimp for this dish tonight, but instead chose the "large" shrimp which happened to be on sale for half price - WOOHOO! It was just as good and appeared to be about the same size of shrimp that Red Lobster uses for their Shrimp Scampi.

SOUTHERN CATFISH

Unless you are a catfish lover, you are probably thinking, Ewwww, catfish? But it's "fishy" tasting! Trust me, it's NOT! The only way it would be fishy tasting, is if you under cook it. This is one of the best white fish you can eat. Very mild in taste and so meaty. The best way to fix it, is to pan fry it. My Honey is the grilling machine and resident fish fryer in our house. He loves to do it and I love to let him! LOL Truthfully, I just like having him in the kitchen near me! *wink wink*

SOUTHERN CATFISH FILETS

• 6 catfish fillets, about 6 to 8 ounces each
• 1 tablespoon salt
• dash pepper
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• Old Bay seasoning
• Vegetable oil
  

Preparation:

Clean and wash fish. Shake off excess water. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high. In a pie plate or shallow dish, combine flour, cornmeal, paprika, salt, pepper and Old Bay seasoning. Roll fish in flour and cornmeal mixture. Fry fish in hot oil for about 4 minutes. Turn carefully with a spatula and fry for 4 to 6 minutes longer, or until fish flakes easily with a fork and is browned. Drain on paper towels. Serve with hush puppies and coleslaw, if desired.
Serves 6.

ETOUFFEE

"First you make a roux...."

Let me first tell you, those AREN'T green peas on top of my etouffee! Gross! They are green onions! I know this dish isn't much to look at, but my oh my, is it EVER good! This is one of my Honey's all time favorites. Which, if you knew him, he's not much into "one pot wonders." LOL But this one has tons of flavor and heat, it's not a burn the first layer of skin off your tongue type of heat, but a nice flavor filled heat. I tend to be kind of a weiner when it comes to food that is too hot. I think this one has just the right combination. My Honey still insists that I bring the hot sauce to the table though, he always adds more heat to it. He's a better man than me! LOL
I like to add shrimp to this, but shrimp just wasn't in the budget this week! I don't usually buy it, unless it's buy one get one free. Tonight I made it with just the chicken (leftovers from Sunday dinner - WOOHOO!) and smoked sausage, and it was still delicious.

ETOUFFEE (E' - too - fay)

6 Tblsp butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 Tblsp minced garlic
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tblsp Creole seasoning (recipe follows) (do not substitute any another seasoning)
1 quart chicken stock
1 pkg smoked sausage, sliced into chunks
2 cups cooked, cut up chicken
1 bag frozen shrimp (put in as many as you like)
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
Steamed white rice for serving
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion tops, for garnish

First you make a roux. In a large dutch oven, melt the butter over med heat. Add the flour and stir continuously to make a roux. Stir the roux over med heat until it becomes the color of peanut butter, 5 - 7 minutes. Add the onions, celery, green bell pepper and garlic to the roux and cook stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes (and juice) to the pot and season with the bay leaves, salt, cayenne and the 2 Tblsp of Creole seasoning. Cook the tomatoes for 2 - 3 minutes and then stir in the chicken stock.Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce it to a simmer. Add in the cooked chicken and the sausage. Cook the etouffee stirring occasionally for 45 minutes. Add the shrimp to the pot stirring to distribute evenly. Cook the shrimp for 5 - 7 minutes or until they are cooked through. Add the chopped parsley to the pot and stir to combine.

Serve immediately over steamed white rice and garnish with sliced green onion tops.

CREOLE SEASONING

2 1/1 Tblsp paprika
2 Tblsp salt
2 Tblsp garlic powder
1 Tblsp black pepper
1 Tblsp onion powder
1 Tlbsp cayenne pepper
1 Tlbsp dried oregano
1 Tlbsp dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight container.
I store mine in a ziploc baggie, and write the date that I mixed it up, on the outside of the bag. It lasts for quite a while.