After a very long week of take-out and leftovers, I am ravenous for something delicious and fairly simple.
(Now, before I start any of this, I realize my whole blog was supposed to be about healthy food with a paleo slant, and I've gone way off track. I just love food - and different kinds of food - entirely too much. And most of them necessitate grains. I'm sure you can amend this one to get rid of the grit cakes and use something else instead but I'm trying to recreate my favorite dish from Carlyle and, well, it's not complete without fried grit cakes.)
The description of this is thus: "sauteed shrimp with Smithfield ham, roasted corn, asparagus, peppers, sweet onion & cajun cream"
Here's the recipe I'll use tonight for this:
Grit Cakes
Ingredients:
3/4 cup stone ground grits
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 T minced garlic
1/4 c. heavy cream
4-5 T butter cut into 1/2″ pieces
1/4 c. grated Parmesan (I added a little bit extra...so probably 1/3 is more accurate)
salt and pepper
canola oil for cooking
1/4 c. flour
1. Bring chicken stock and garlic to a boil in a large pot, and then gradually stir in the grits.
2. Stir for about 5 minutes until the grits absorb all of the liquid and start pulling away from the side of the pan when you stir.
3. Add in butter until fully incorporated and then stir in your cream and parmesan. Let this all incorporate and then pull off the heat.
4. Place waxed paper in the bottom of a cookie sheet with a high lip and pour the grits over top, smoothing with a spatula and cover.
5. Put this in the fridge overnight or if you need it faster, in the freezer for a while.
6. Cut this into triangles, coat with a little bit of flour and fry in a deep pan until the edges are crispy.
Sauteed Shrimp
Ingredients:
Cajun / Creole Seasoning to taste
1/2 lb of jumbo shrimp - peeled and de-veined
Olive Oil or Butter
1. Coat the Shrimp in Cajun/Creole Seasoning.
2. Heat the olive oil or butter in a pan and sautee the shrimp until just translucent (about 5 minutes). They'll continue to cook after this, and you don't want them over done. That's it!
Creole Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
*this is very "to taste" and up to your own imaginations...I'll probably change this every time I make it, and your ingredients can vary, too*
1/4 cup of diced bacon / pancetta / ham
2 tbsp butter
Flour (as much as you need to be 50/50 with your fat base)
1/4 cup "The Trinity" - a.k.a. chopped onions, celery and bell pepper. (This time, I'm only adding onion and a little bit of celery salt)
1 tbsp Crystal Hot Sauce
1 dash of Worcestershire Sauce
1 bay leaf
1 cup of heavy cream - slightly warmed
2 tbsp tomato paste (Hunt's is best)
Asparagus (as much as you'd like), cut into 1/2" pieces and steamed
Flour
1. Sautee your diced bacon / pancetta in the bottom of a large saucepan until cooked, but not super crispy. Take out and drain, to add back in in step 3. This will give you the fat base for your roux. If you don't have enough bacon fat, add a little bit of butter to the pan afterwards.
2. Make a roux with your bacon fat / butter mixture and flour. Melt the butter over medium heat, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 8 - 10 minutes until the flour is caramel colored. You do NOT need a lot of this. I made WAY too much and had to buy a whole new container of half-and-half!
4. Add 1/3 of your cream, whisking in until smooth. Then repeat twice for the next 2/3 of your cream.
5. Add "The Trinity" and your diced bacon / pancetta / ham and let cook for another 5 or so minutes, stirring constantly
6. You can add in a little bit of tomato paste here for a bit sweeter taste, as well as your hot sauce and worcestershire sauce and any additional herbs you'd like (a bay leaf is good here!)
7. Cook this for 30 - 45 minutes until it's the consistency you would like, then remove the bay leaves. If it's too thick, you can always add some half-and-half.
8. Add asparagus once the sauce is done right before you serve it (you still want it to be crispy!)
TO SERVE
Add the shrimp to your creole cream sauce and serve over your hot-out-of-the-oil grit cakes! Especially yummy if served with a bloody mary!
(Now, before I start any of this, I realize my whole blog was supposed to be about healthy food with a paleo slant, and I've gone way off track. I just love food - and different kinds of food - entirely too much. And most of them necessitate grains. I'm sure you can amend this one to get rid of the grit cakes and use something else instead but I'm trying to recreate my favorite dish from Carlyle and, well, it's not complete without fried grit cakes.)
The description of this is thus: "sauteed shrimp with Smithfield ham, roasted corn, asparagus, peppers, sweet onion & cajun cream"
Here's the recipe I'll use tonight for this:
Grit Cakes
Ingredients:
3/4 cup stone ground grits
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 T minced garlic
1/4 c. heavy cream
4-5 T butter cut into 1/2″ pieces
1/4 c. grated Parmesan (I added a little bit extra...so probably 1/3 is more accurate)
salt and pepper
canola oil for cooking
1/4 c. flour
1. Bring chicken stock and garlic to a boil in a large pot, and then gradually stir in the grits.
2. Stir for about 5 minutes until the grits absorb all of the liquid and start pulling away from the side of the pan when you stir.
3. Add in butter until fully incorporated and then stir in your cream and parmesan. Let this all incorporate and then pull off the heat.
4. Place waxed paper in the bottom of a cookie sheet with a high lip and pour the grits over top, smoothing with a spatula and cover.
5. Put this in the fridge overnight or if you need it faster, in the freezer for a while.
6. Cut this into triangles, coat with a little bit of flour and fry in a deep pan until the edges are crispy.
Sauteed Shrimp
Ingredients:
Cajun / Creole Seasoning to taste
1/2 lb of jumbo shrimp - peeled and de-veined
Olive Oil or Butter
1. Coat the Shrimp in Cajun/Creole Seasoning.
2. Heat the olive oil or butter in a pan and sautee the shrimp until just translucent (about 5 minutes). They'll continue to cook after this, and you don't want them over done. That's it!
Creole Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
*this is very "to taste" and up to your own imaginations...I'll probably change this every time I make it, and your ingredients can vary, too*
1/4 cup of diced bacon / pancetta / ham
2 tbsp butter
Flour (as much as you need to be 50/50 with your fat base)
1/4 cup "The Trinity" - a.k.a. chopped onions, celery and bell pepper. (This time, I'm only adding onion and a little bit of celery salt)
1 tbsp Crystal Hot Sauce
1 dash of Worcestershire Sauce
1 bay leaf
1 cup of heavy cream - slightly warmed
2 tbsp tomato paste (Hunt's is best)
Asparagus (as much as you'd like), cut into 1/2" pieces and steamed
Flour
1. Sautee your diced bacon / pancetta in the bottom of a large saucepan until cooked, but not super crispy. Take out and drain, to add back in in step 3. This will give you the fat base for your roux. If you don't have enough bacon fat, add a little bit of butter to the pan afterwards.
2. Make a roux with your bacon fat / butter mixture and flour. Melt the butter over medium heat, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 8 - 10 minutes until the flour is caramel colored. You do NOT need a lot of this. I made WAY too much and had to buy a whole new container of half-and-half!
4. Add 1/3 of your cream, whisking in until smooth. Then repeat twice for the next 2/3 of your cream.
5. Add "The Trinity" and your diced bacon / pancetta / ham and let cook for another 5 or so minutes, stirring constantly
6. You can add in a little bit of tomato paste here for a bit sweeter taste, as well as your hot sauce and worcestershire sauce and any additional herbs you'd like (a bay leaf is good here!)
7. Cook this for 30 - 45 minutes until it's the consistency you would like, then remove the bay leaves. If it's too thick, you can always add some half-and-half.
8. Add asparagus once the sauce is done right before you serve it (you still want it to be crispy!)
TO SERVE
Add the shrimp to your creole cream sauce and serve over your hot-out-of-the-oil grit cakes! Especially yummy if served with a bloody mary!
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