SHRIMP AND GRITS WITH CHORIZO AND PARMESAN CRISPS

How many different versions of shrimp and grits have you had? Ingredients and shrimp varieties differ all throughout the South. The winning combination for me: fresh gulf shrimp, a few vegetables, cider vinegar and Alabama Conecuh sausage. The prep takes a little while, but it’s something you can do in advance and the rest is quick and easy!

My daughter was playing in a junior golf tournament in Greenville, South Carolina, when I first became familiar with Anson Mills grits. They have been a stock item in my kitchen for years (conveniently gluten free) and can be purchased directly from ansonmills.com.

Ingredients

• 1 Lb fresh shrimp – peeled and deveined
• Emeril’s Essence
• 1 link andouille sausage (Conecuh Hickory Smoked Sausage)
• 3 carrots small diced
• 1 red bell pepper small diced or julienne
• 1 green bell pepper small diced or julienne
• 1 yellow bell pepper small diced or julienne
• 1 yellow onion small diced or julienne
• 1/4 cup cidar vinegar
• 1 lemon – zest and juice
• 1 Tsb chopped fresh thyme
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock (Pacific Foods unsalted)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• chopped scallions
• chopped fresh chives
• chorizo sausage – cooked

Let’s Get Cooking

Begin with slicing and browning the andouille, then remove from the pan and set aside.

Sprinkle shrimp with Emeril’s Essence and sauté – remove from pan and set aside with andouille.

Next, sauté carrots, peppers, onion and garlic. Add thyme and return shrimp and sausage back to the pan. Give it a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and add the chicken stock, cider vinegar and heavy cream. Reduce.

Ladle over grits and top with chorizo, chives and scallions.

ANSON MILLS GRITS

Sauté one clove chopped garlic and a little chopped fresh thyme is a tablespoon of butter in a dutch over. Add 2 1/2 cups chicken stock and 1 1/2 cup heavy cream and bring to a boil. Add 1 cup grits. Reduce to simmer and cook about 45 minutes. You may need to add more liquid (stock or water) as the grits cook. If that’s too much cream for your taste, use all chicken stock or all water. Whatever liquid you chose, just keep your ratio 4:1.

These grits are a treat, super rich and creamy, but if you don’t have them on hand, you can use any brand grits you like, or even serve over rice.

Dress it up!

PARMESAN CRISPS

These are super easy and only take 10 minutes, making any soup or salad stylish!

Start by finely grating some parmesan cheese. Use 2 teaspoons grated cheese for each crisp. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper, and bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the parchment paper with the crisps to a cooling rack and remove with a spatula.