I was so excited when I received my delivery from Anson Mills from my kind co-worker. She gets deliveries from the U.S.A in the U.S.A., otherwise, I'd never be able to order. I spent almost $200 this time and all my treasures took up half my freezer! The first plan with all my new finds was to make shrimp & grits again as its been a long while since I've had them. I've never had blue grits before, they are coarse. Anson Mills said no dairy advised for them, but butter at the end, so no cheesy grits this time.
Because no cheese, I decided to make them (1 cup grits) with chicken stock (about 4 cups) instead.
I used organic, low-sodium "Better than Bouillon" chicken base. I didn't soak overnight, but for about 5 hours anyway. I improvised my shrimp sauce with ingredients I had at home today, so sad I had no green onions though! I generally always have them in the crisper, but only found one! I used it for garnish.
- 680 grams Pacific white shrimp, 26 - 30 ct, peeled and deveined
- 1 Portuguese "hot" chorizo sausage, diced
- Organic extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
- 1 Walla Walla onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 pint of "Sungold" cherry tomatoes (from farmer's market), halved lengthwise - these were soooo heavenly sweet!!! I am not going to lie, fresh tomatoes are the only reason I go to the market - I wait for the season all year long...
- 1 tomato from the farmer's market (don't know the name of it though), diced and it was also delicious!
- 285 ml jar of roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry and diced
- 2 tablespoons organic low-sodium tomato paste
- Large handful of organic Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
- "Lea & Perrins" Worcestershire sauce, to taste
- Crushed red chili flakes, to taste
- 2 teaspoons "Old Bay" seasoning
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt, to taste
- 1/2 lime, juice squeezed
- 1 measly scallion, sliced for garnish
This was definitely a mise en place first recipe. I had everything ready to go when I started cooking the grits. In fact, I sauteed the onions, chorizo, garlic and chili flakes in olive oil ahead until they were tender to get cut down the preparation time.
I then put in the tomato paste and cooked it through.
OMG, that smelled so good in the house. Our mouths were watering already. I turned the heat off and left this for the finishing ingredients when the grits were done. I drained my grits and then put the chicken broth with them and brought to a boil. I turned it down to a low simmer and whisked, and whisked and whisked. this took about 30 minutes, though felt like hours (My absent sous-chef son cooked them!)
It was sooo hot outside and in my kitchen too. Butter (1/4 cup) and S&P finished them.
I heated the onion mixture back up and then added the tomatoes with bell peppers, Old Bay and Worster sauce.
When heated through and just at a simmering boil I added the shrimp, parsley and butter until just hot and just cooked. I seasoned with S&P and squeezed the lime over.
I served with the grits and used the scallion as garnish. My son wanted cheese so grated some fresh Romano, which we put on the grits when plated. I wasn't going to argue, however, I went cheese free...
I've said it every time I use Anson Mills products...they will NEVER let you down. OMG, those grits were soooo f'n good! That being said, I did find them too salty because of the stock/broth (I'd cut what I used in half next time, so half water). My son did not find them too salty at all. BUT, that didn't bring the dish down - this was as good as you can get and I just left out salt on the shrimp gravy to balance everything out. And that shrimp sauce was just incredible - I couldn't have asked for a better outcome... it was sweet from those tomatoes, spicy from the chorizo and just FRESH tasting. Mmmm. We agreed this was one of the best dishes we've ever had - it was that good. One for the books...and it was fun to have my absent sous chef son present tonight and helping me cook. ❤
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