Smoked Cheesy Grits and Shrimp + Grit Cakes for Breakfast (Bachelor Week)

[Neo]

Thanks Neo! You want to eat the shrimp fresh from the pan. I’ll make you some when you’re in town.

Address please...I will be right there!

 

[Neo]

Thanks sowsage, the shrimp came out really good. The bit of lemon really cut through the the heaviness of the dish.

As for the tomato gravy, It was okay. I just thought I needed something to put over the grit cakes but they were perfectly fine without it. A lot of southerners eat tomato gravy over biscuits...I am not a southerner, hence the use of scrapple lol! I’m sure one or two are turning over in their graves.

Xray...Im a Bama Gal and I aint mad at ya. Maybe in the gravies...but not the graves. You did awesome Brother man!

 

[fowldarr]

Thanks fowl! Yeah grits aren’t for everyone but I’m glad I like them. I just need a bit of butter and black pepper to eat them. They’re too plain on their own.

How about pasta? The shrimp with the sauce would be good over some angel hair or linguini. That’s another one for me to try.

I would totally eat it over pasta.

 

[xray]

Holy cow Joe!
Your gonna gain 20 lbs. before the wife gets back.
Cheesy grits & shrimp is one of my all time favorite meals & yours looks delicious!!
Al

Thanks!!! Well, I need to fatten up for the winter Al! We hibernate up here in this weather. Actually, I haven't really been eating lunches when I make these big meals, so that helps.

I hardly drank on bachelor week too...go figure!?

 

[xray]

Some great looking food. The Tomato Gravy reminds me of Shakshuka. A highly seasoned, North African and Middle Eastern, Tomato Sauce with Eggs poached in the sauce. I always felt it could use something other than Flat Bread as a Starch. Your Grit Cakes would be perfect...JJ

Thanks JJ! I've always wanted to try making Shakshuka. I explained it to my wife and showed her a picture off the internet...she was put off by the eggs in it. I guess I'll have to make it for the next bachelor week, whenever that is.

 

[xray]

It is looking like so far bachelor week has been a big success in the food department!! All looks great, the shrimp made me drool a little lol

Thanks jcam, been eating like a king so far. Got the birria tacos going now.

Not responsible for any shorted out keyboards.

 

[xray]

Address please...I will be right there!

Xray...Im a Bama Gal and I aint mad at ya. Maybe in the gravies...but not the graves. You did awesome Brother man!

Thanks Bama gal, I'm glad you like it!

As for my address: A cold place in PA lol.

 

[Hawging It]

In a continuation of Bachelor Week, a bigger meal I had planned is Shrimp & Grits. I had a lot of cheesy grits leftover, I ended up frying grit cakes with them for the next day's breakfast.

This a pic heavy post, so less yadda-yadda and more lookin'

Smoked Cheesy Grits and Shrimp:

1lb. thawed and peeled shrimp (I just used 12 since it was only me)
4 slices of bacon
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 green onions plus 1 more for garnish
blackening seasoning
2T Worcestershire Sauce
couple good shakes of hot sauce (I used Crystal)
3T chopped parsley
juice of 1 lemon (I used half)

For the grits:
1c. Quaker Oats regular grits
4c. chicken stock
2c. shredded smoked extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/4c. heavy cream
3T. butter

Season shrimp with blackening seasoning and set aside:
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I measured and chopped most of my ingredients ahead of time because this dish comes together rather quickly:
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Bring 4 cups (1qt.) of chicken stock to a boil. Stir in 1 cup of grits. Stir grits briskly and reduce heat and cover. Cook according to package directions and creamy, this took me 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, crisp bacon in a pan. Once bacon is crisp, remove and set aside. and crumble. Reserve some of the bacon grease for sauteeing the rest of the ingredients.

Once grits are done, add 2 cups of smoked cheese and 1/4c. of heavy cream, stir well and set aside:
View attachment 411522

Next, sautee shrimp in reserved bacon grease about 2-3 minutes. Fry shrimp on one side and then flip. After flipping push shrimp off to the side and add your green onions, parsley and garlic. Sautee for 2 minutes and then add the rest of your wet ingredients (1/2 lemon juiced, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce). Mix everything in the pan together. Sorry no step by step pictures here since I was watching the grits and making this simultaneously.

Taste before serving. I only used the juice of 1/2 a lemon because more would have been too much. If you think the sauce is too lemony, add butter.

Here's the finished shrimp with sauce:
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Spoon grits into a bowl and then top with shrimp and sauce. Top with crumbled bacon and garnish with chopped green onions:
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Man, these were good. As you could probably tell from previous bachelor week posts, I've eaten like a champ this entire week!!

Since I had a ton of leftover cheesy grits, I couldn't let them go to waste. So I spread them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and put them into the fridge.
View attachment 411524

THE NEXT DAY

I decided to make grit cakes with tomato gravy for breakfast. Since I didn't have any bacon or sausage to make a gravy, I got creative and used homemade scrapple ends to use as a base for the tomato gravy.

Tomato Gravy:
Bacon grease or butter (I used scrapple since it's all I had)
1 can of diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted garlic)
3T chopped onion
1.5 cups of chicken stock (you may not need all the stock, add more of less to achieve your preferred consistency for the gravy)
3T. four
1tsp. black pepper.

Leftover grits are cut out with a circle cutter and then dredged in flour seasoned with black pepper. Lightly shake off excess and set aside:
View attachment 411526

Cooking frozen scrapple ends in butter. Scrapple doesn't render a lot of fat like bacon or sausage would so when the scrapple was finished I added more butter to the pan (about 2T).
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After scrapple is finished. Remove, add extra butter and 1/2 of a small diced onion. Cook onion until translucent and golden and then add 3T. flour. Stir quickly until flour is absorbed and then add one can of diced tomatoes, 1tsp. black pepper and 1 cup of chicken stock and cook. Add more stock if necessary to achieve your desired consistency.

Frying grit cakes and making gravy. Multi-tasking here:
View attachment 411527

Once grit cakes are golden brown remove and place on paper towels to absorb excess oil:
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Breakfast:
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These fried smoked cheesy grit cakes were awesome! They were nice and crispy on the outside and smooth, creamy and cheesy on the inside. I made the tomato gravy in a cinch because I thought they would turn out dry. Truth is, I didn't even need the tomato gravy for this dish. The grit cakes were outstanding all on their own.

Next time I make this dish, I will make the grits the day before and then fry them the next day and serve with the shrimp and sauce poured over them. Yep, that's what I'm gonna do for when the wife comes back. This is a rich dish, so I'll make it for a special occasion.

If you made it this far, thanks for looking!

Joe

We love shrimp & grits, That is a great looking meal!

 

[xray]

We love shrimp & grits, That is a great looking meal!

Thanks Hawg! I appreciate it.

 

[tropics]

Joe I missed this one seeing it now,makes me wish I had seen it.Chicken stock to cook the grits,why I didn't think of that.I add bullion cube to almost everything. Likes
Richie

 

[jcam222]

Joe that is one fine bunch of food there!! I love the cheese and grits meal and your plated close up with the chives on it is magazine worthy!! You are really upping your game buddy! It honestly is all stellar quality food. The tomato gravy is unique and something I will have to work into a meal.