Recipe: Shrimp and Grits

Ubiquitous is a fifty-cent word I like to spit out in front of my friends to impress them with my erudition (Look! Another fifty-cent word!). It means “constantly encountered” and applies to this edition’s recipe and its omnipresence on menus in Charleston, SC. This historic city is where my wife and I spent a few sweltering summer days soaking up Southern history, hospitality and cuisine. Our dining experiences ran the gamut from a stuck-in-the-50s diner that served an unworldly satisfying banana-pecan pancake to the boisterously elegant SNOB, the kind of place that enhances the eye appeal of its dishes by splattering colorful sauces all over the white serving plates. But it seemed that no matter where we ate there was a dish on the menu I’d never heard of, much less eaten—shrimp and grits. I once dated a girl whose mother would boil a pot full of water then throw in a package of noodles and a whole chicken; in an hour or so “chicken and noodles” was ready to eat, bones, skin and all. I imagined this apparently requisite Charleston dish to be as mundane, if not as disgusting, as the chicken and noodles that so repulsed me as a teenager in pursuit of a pretty lady. But at the urging of a charming waitress (another pretty lady who I was not pursuing) I gave it a try. Needless to say, there is more to the dish than the two ingredients for which it is named. Shrimp and grits comprise the blank palette upon which the creative cook will paint their culinary masterpiece; as such, there are as many ways to fix the dish as there are shrimp in the sea. But following is my interpretation of the recipe that first swept me off my feet and endeared me to this classic southern dish.

1 1/2 pound shrimp cooked, peeled and de-veined 2 tbs. flour
4 slices bacon 1 small onion, diced
1 cup “Quaker” quick grits 4 ounces cream cheese
3+1 cups chicken stock 2 tsp. Parsley flakes

Bring 3 cups stock to a boil and cook grits in a saucepan according to package directions. While grits are cooking fry bacon till crisp in a large skillet then remove to paper towels to drain. Leave 2 tbs. fat in skillet and add flour. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir until the roux turns a medium brown, the color of a low-fat mocha frappuccino latte. Add 1 cup stock and stir until a smooth gravy is formed. Timing now becomes important as we want the two elements of the dish to reach gastronomic fruition as close to one another as possible. Vary heat of grits and gravy as necessary.

When grits are done cooking add diced onion, cream cheese and parsley flakes; stir to combine. Add shrimp to bacon gravy and cook for two minutes, just enough to heat the little crustaceans through. Spoon equal portions of creamy grits onto 4 plates, then ladle shrimp and gravy on top. Announce the arrival of this splendid dish by declaring “Y’all come and eat now, y’ hear!”