Shrimp and Grits

Southern cooking.  Not something I'm very familiar with. I've done the pan fried chicken with so-so results and that about covers it until I tried this recipe for Shrimp and Grits.  Spectacular!  Normally served in the South as a breakfast meal, I made this for dinner and it was very satisfying.  For an added boost of protein, a fried egg could be the topper.

We have a local company in Oregon called Bob's Red Mill and they make a huge array of grains and one of their wonderful products is various sizes of cornmeal.  For this recipe I used fine ground and the end results were the most fantastic, smooth and creamy grits.  Think of grits as Cream of Wheat only with a corn flavor and amazingly rich and delicious because of the cheese, butter, and cream.  Topped with the spicy shrimp and sausage bits; a perfect compliment to the grits.  This recipe will definitely be on the cooking rotation.

Shrimp and Grits

Grits
1 cup yellow grits (not instant)
1 cup grated sharp white cheddar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 jalapeño, seeded, diced
1/4 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Shrimp
1/2 cup 1/3" cubes andouille sausage
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, divided
16 large shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled, deveined
1/4 cup (or more) beer
1/4 cup low-salt chicken stock
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

Preparation

Grits

Bring 3 cups water to a simmer in a large saucepan. Gradually whisk in grits. Turn heat to low; gently simmer until grits begin to thicken. Continue cooking, stirring often and adding water by 1/4 cupfuls if too thick, until tender, about 1 hour. Stir in cheese, butter, and jalapeño, then cream. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Shrimp

Meanwhile, heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add sausage; sauté until fat begins to render, about 5 minutes (if sausage is very lean, add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet). Add garlic and 1 tablespoon butter; stir until butter melts. Add shrimp. When garlic begins to brown, add beer and chicken stock. Simmer until shrimp is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; set aside.
Divide grits among bowls, forming a well in center. Spoon shrimp mixture into center of grits. Sprinkle tarragon over.

Prawn Summer Rolls

After all that coconut cake, it's time for a light, refreshing recipe. These summer rolls fit the bill.  They are crunchy, flavorful, and fun to make. Warning though, they do take a lot of prep work and ingredients to put together, and the rice paper wrappers are not the easiest things to work with.  Patience is a virtue with these things.

I was up for the challenge and I am glad I gave them a try.  Served as an appetizer before an Asian-inspired meal, or solo as a lunch, they are quite satisfying. 

Prawn Summer Rolls
4 ounces bean thread noodles (cellophane or transparent noodles)
12 8"-9" rice paper rounds
18 cooked medium prawns (about 10 ounces), peeled, deveined, halved lengthwise
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves or parsley plus 1 tablespoon chopped
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup English hothouse cucumber, cut into matchstick-size pieces
1 cup carrot, cut into matchstick-size pieces
12 small green or red lettuce leaves

Put noodles in a large bowl. Pour enough hot water over to cover; let stand until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain. Transfer to a large bowl of ice water to cool; drain and set aside.

Fill a pie plate with warm water. Working with 1 rice paper round at a time, soak rice paper in water, turning occasionally, until just pliable but not limp, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a work surface. Arrange 3 shrimp halves across center of round. Top with some leaves of each herb, then daikon sprouts (if using), cucumber, and carrot. Arrange a small handful of noodles over. Place 1 lettuce leaf over, torn or folded to fit. Fold bottom of rice paper over filling, then fold in ends and roll like a burrito into a tight cylinder. Transfer roll, seam side down, to a platter. Repeat to make 11 more rolls.  Can be made 1 hour ahead. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and refrigerate.

To serve, cut rolls in half on diagonal with dipping sauce.

Peanut Dipping Sauce
Makes 1 cup
2 teaspoons cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed in garlic press
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons peanut butter, smooth or chunky

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When the oil is just starting to get hot, add the garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the sweet chili sauce, hoisin sauce, water and peanut butter and stir until smooth. Simmer until thickened. Let cool. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week. If the sauce is too thick after storing, whisk in a bit of water to thin it out.

Inspiration

This week I went to my trusty on-line bookstore, Amazon.com, and purchased two new cookbooks for my collection.  These particular books are special to me as I bought them to serve as inspiration.  Both cookbooks were written by women who, like me, starting a cooking blog on a whim.  What they have done though is take their blogs one giant step further and created beautiful cookbooks from their entries. Maybe someday for me???

The book I am cooking out of today is called The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  The picures are beautiful, the recipes look very easy to follow and Ms. Hair covers a wide variety of Asian cooking throughout the book.  I love Asian food...Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, all delicious.  Sometimes when I have wanted to try cooking one of my favorite Asian restaurant meals I have found it somewhat daunting with huge lists of ingredients, many of them hard to find in my town.

This cookbook has simple lists of ingredients and it appears that most of them can be found at  the local supermarket.  No need to search out an Asian market, though that is a good excuse to take a trip to the big city!  I look forward to trying many of the recipes in this lovely cookbook and it appears that all of them are as easy and straight forward to prepare as was this Shrimp Fried Rice recipe.  I added a few additional ingredients to mine such as bamboo shoots, bean sprouts and some diced barbecued pork but that's one of the beauties of fried rice, it's very adaptable to what you have on hand.

No recipe posted today, but what I am going to do is direct you to Jaden Hairs' Steamy Kitchen blog so you can not only get this recipe, but also puruse a great blog on your own.  Enjoy.