Shrimply Traditional
By Becky Billingsley
Originally published in beachlife.style magazine, 2006
Shrimp and grits may be an upscale Lowcountry dish these days, but it always has been and always will be a staple in most any Southern cook’s comfort food collection.
Back when “creek boys” spent their days angling for fresh seafood, many a coastal family’s protein included a lot of shrimp. Sometimes they ate it three times a day, which is why a bowl of grits topped with shrimp sautéed in butter became a traditional dish.
But while shrimp and grits is common on Southern menus, its modern incarnations are deliciously diverse. Proving the dish is adaptable to practically any cuisine is Charleston chef and author Nathalie Dupree, who came out in 2006 with a succinct and easy-to-replicate recipe collection in “Nathalie Dupree’s Shrimp & Grits Cookbook,” (Wyrick & Company, 2006, $21.95).
“The first published recipe I could find was a Charleston receipt for Shrimps and Hominy,” she says. “In Charleston grits were called hominy.”
But while shrimp and grits was regular fare for coastal dwellers, the dish wasn’t mainstream for non-locals. It wasn’t until the 1980s, Dupree says, when the late Bill Neal elevated Southern cooking to a mass-appreciated style.
“Shrimp and grits became popularized when Bill Neal served it at his [North Carolina] restaurant,” Dupree says. “Craig Claiborne of the New York Times came there and had never had shrimp and grits before. He was from Mississippi and knew nothing about it. So [Claiborne] had this ‘new’ thing and thought it was wonderful. He wrote about it in the New York Times, that was in the 1980s, and it took off after that.”
It took off like a marlin on the hook, but Dupree does a fine job reeling in many of the variations. As long as you have shrimp, grits and butter in the pantry, she says you can adapt the dish to whatever ingredients are on hand. Some of the recipes in her book have international flair, such as Red Curry and Pineapple Thai Shrimp and Grits, or Saffron Grits and Shrimp Mediterranean-Style.
“There’s even Asian Cilantro Lime Grits,” she says. “In fact, the New York Times ran a Japanese Shrimp and Grits recipe not too long ago. Also of course the Italians captured a Portuguese ship and had grits before we did. They call it polenta, but it’s grits.”
It’s actually hard to find a notable Southern restaurant that doesn’t serve some form of shrimp and grits, at least as an occasional special.
In Georgetown, The River Room has built a reputation on their unique recipe featuring creamy and dense yellow grits topped with tender shrimp, smoked sausage and tasso ham strips. A moderately seasoned brown gravy is drizzled on top, and buried at the bottom of the bowl is a light and flaky biscuit.
Across the street is the Rice Paddy Restaurant, where co-owner and chef Susan Felder makes her bacon-infused shrimp and grits every Wednesday for lunch.
“I grew up in Columbia, and we had fish and grits,” she says. “But then I had breakfast with a friend in Charleston, and now my [shrimp and grits] recipe is based on hers. She started cooking, and she said, ‘I’m going to put a little tomato in there, okay? I’m going to put a little pepper in there, okay? I’m going to put a little bacon and green onion in there, okay?’ And it was delicious. She said she usually made it very simply with white wine in the grits, and butter. But the addition of vegetables and bacon gave it more flavor.”
Louis Osteen also uses bacon in his shrimp and grits. Nathalie Dupree included his recipe in her cookbook along with the notation, “Louis Osteen was one of the first local chefs to refine Lowcountry cooking. Charlestonians who miss his compelling cuisine can find it up the way at Louis’s at Pawleys and its Fish Camp Bar. There’s not a better reason for a road trip.”
“Shrimp and grits is the Lowcountry’s finest offering,” Osteen says while seated on a bar stool at his Fish Camp Bar in Pawleys Island. “My way of making it was evolved from Charleston’s other premier dish, which is she-crab soup. You look at a pot of each [dish] in our cooler, and they look close to the same. They’re both creamy and made with wine. Charleston was founded as an English outpost…and she-crab soup is an English soup made with local ingredients. That’s the best illustration for my recipe: It was turned into Lowcountry and regional food with local ingredients.”
While shrimp and grits is no longer on Osteen’s regular menu, when he offers it he makes it with bacon, onion, celery, green pepper, vermouth, seafood stock, tomato paste, heavy cream and other flavorful ingredients.
At other Grand Strand-area restaurants, the differences between recipes are astounding. The chefs at Oliver’s Lodge in Murrells Inlet serve shrimp basted in barbecue sauce over roasted garlic Cheddar grits. The Brown Pelican in Georgetown has an extremely untraditional, albeit tasty, version with fried shrimp scattered on top of a bowl of cheesy grits. Over at the Side-wheeler Restaurant in Conway, owner/chef Michael “Pud” McLauren’s legendary dish features tasso ham, Andouille sausage and white Cheddar cheese.
“It seems it lends itself well to adapting to whatever is in the refrigerator as long as you have shrimp, grits and butter,” Dupree says. “I think that’s why there are so many varieties, and we have just scratched the surface. There are so many more recipes than what are in [my cookbook]. Everyone has their own way of making grits, too.”
A tip Dupree shares for avoiding scorched grits is to cook them in the microwave. You don’t have to stand at the stove and stir them that way; you can use the microwave’s timer to remind you to stir. It’s also important to not add salt to the grits until after they’re cooked, and how much salt is added depends on whether the shrimp are served with salty ingredients like bacon or Parmesan cheese.
Besides being one of the most delicious foods you can put in your mouth, Dupree says there’s another reason shrimp and grits is a Southern staple.
“I think the other real reason for their popularity is that they’re easy,” she says. “It wasn’t just that [shrimp and grits] were cheap way back when. If a family was poor with lots of children and the mother didn’t have much time to cook, it was certainly easy to cook. Most [coastal] families had a lot of shrimp, then they’d fix a lot of grits and it was easy to feed everyone. But it’s also easy to fix for two people, and leftover grits are terrific.”
The Lowcountry’s Finest: Shrimp and Grits
Louis Osteen, Louis’s at Pawleys and the Fish Camp Bar
Ingredients (serves 6):
For the grits:
2 cups milk
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick grits
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
For the shrimp and sauce:
6 slices bacon
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 sprig fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup white vermouth or dry white wine
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups fish or shrimp stock or bottled clam juice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Hot sauce (optional)
6 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled
Preparation:
To make the grits, bring the milk and water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the salt. Slowly add the grits, stirring constantly. When the grits begin to thicken, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the grits from scorching. Stir in the butter and cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the pepper. Keep warm.
To make the shrimp and sauce, cook the bacon until crisp in a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Move to a paper towel to drain, reserving the fat in the skillet. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the thyme and the bay leaves and cook for 1 minute.
Increase the heat to high. Add the vermouth and cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until it evaporates. Lower the heat to medium and add the flour, stirring to prevent lumps. Be sure to scrape up any brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cook the flour for a few minutes to brown it, stirring constantly.
Add the stock and tomato paste. Mix quickly with a whisk to avoid lumps. When the mixture starts to bubble, add the cream. Return to a simmer. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot sauce. Slowly simmer the sauce for another 4 to 5 minutes while you cook the shrimp. Remove the bay leaves.
Using a cast iron skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add the shrimp and stir them until they are just about half cooked. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Quickly pour the simmering sauce over the shrimp and cook for another 2 minutes, or until the shrimp turn pink.
Divide the grits between six owls. Spoon the shrimp and sauce over the grits and garnish with the cooked bacon, either whole or chopped. Serve immediately.
BLT Shrimp and Grits
Nathalie Dupree
Nathalie says this is the recipe she makes most often for her and her husband, author and College of Charleston professor Jack Bass.
Ingredients (serves 4):
4 tablespoons butter
4 cups cooked grits, cooked with water and half-and-half
4 strips bacon, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 pound small shrimp, peeled
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 thinly sliced scallions, white and green parts separated
1/4 cup flour
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 1/2 cups half-and-half or milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large leaves arugula, washed
Preparation:
Add the butter to the hot grits. Cook the bacon in a heavy-bottomed frying pan until crisp, 5 to 10 minutes, stirring as needed. Remove and drain on paper towels. Add the shrimp, garlic, and the white parts of the scallions to the bacon grease. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp turn pink. Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Sprinkle the flour into the pan and stir until well blended. Add the tomatoes and half-and-half and stir until well blended. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the gravy thickens slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide the grits between four plates. Spoon the gravy over the grits and sprinkle the shrimp, bacon and green parts of the scallions over the top. Garnish with the arugula and serve.
Shrimp and Grits from The Rice Paddy
Susan Felder
Ingredients (serves 4)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons bacon grease
4 tablespoons finely diced yellow bell pepper
4 tablespoons thinly sliced scallion or green onion
4 tablespoons diced tomato, seeds removed
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp
1/4 cup white wine to deglaze pan
1/2 cup shrimp or vegetable stock
4 portions cooked stone-ground grits
Preparation:
Melt butter and bacon grease in a large sauté pan. Add vegetables and cook until they begin to soften. Add shrimp and stir until they begin to turn pink. Splash with the white wine and half of the stock. Cook and stir until the shrimp are done and the juices are reduced to a creamy consistency; add remaining stock if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Serve shrimp beside hot cooked stone-ground grits.
River Room Shrimp and Grits
Joe O’Hara
Ingredients (serves 4):
6 cups light chicken stock
2 cups yellow stone-ground grits
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups ham stock (or ham base mixed with water; the base is available at fine grocery stores)
Roux for thickening (combine over heat equal parts flour and butter)
Butter
20 shrimp, peeled and deveined
20 slices smoked sausage
4ounces thinly sliced tasso ham
4 scallions diced
Fresh herbs, for garnish
Preparation:
For the grits, bring chicken stock to a boil, add grits and cover, reducing heat to a simmer. Cook over low heat until kernels are soft, being careful not to burn grits. When grits are soft, add heavy cream to make the grits creamier. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
For the shrimp and sauce, bring the ham stock to a slight boil. Thicken the sauce by stirring in a small amount of roux. Set aside.
Add a small amount of butter to a sauté pan. Add the shrimp, sausage, tasso ham and scallions and sauté until done. Stir in the ham sauce, making sure to deglaze the flavorful burnt crunchy residue on the bottom of the pan. This adds a lot of flavor to the sauce. Spoon the warm grits onto dinner plates or into large bowls. Spoon the shrimp, sausage, and sauce over the grits. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, basil or thyme leaves. Enjoy! |
