Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

Shrimp and Grits has been a Southern staple for many, many, many years. The combination of juicy Gulf shrimp and creamy grits is enough to bring a grown man to his knees. I decided to make this dish because one of the local shrimpers brought me some beautiful red shrimp straight off the boat. These beauties are best when they are fresh.

I started by de-heading and peeling the shrimp. I don't mind doing it. It is sort of therapeutic in a way. I then sprinkled them with salt and pepper.

While the shrimp were hanging out together I got the grits started. All you need is to bring water, chicken broth and half and half to a boil. Whisk in the grits and reduce the heat.

Go ahead and get some bacon cooking until it's crispy. You will also need to slice some mushrooms, mince some garlic, chop green onions and split a lemon.

When the bacon is finished, crumble it into pieces. Saute the mushrooms in the bacon fat.

While the mushrooms are cooking, add cheddar and Parmesan cheese, butter and hot sauce to the grits. Mix together until creamy. Put a lid on and keep warm.

Add the green onions to the mushrooms.

Dust the shrimp with flour, add them and the garlic to the mushrooms and onions. Stir in some chicken broth, hot sauce and lemon juice, making sure you get all of the pieces off the bottom of the pan.

Spoon cheese grits into a bowl. Add shrimp mixture and top with crumbled bacon.

I think I may have died and gone to heaven! The creamy grits, crunchy bacon and sweet shrimp are so good together I could "eat it for breakfast," as my dad would say. He also says he could eat raw oysters on his corn flakes, but I will save that for a later blog.

There are many recipes for shrimp and grits. I hope you find one you like and try it out. I bet you will be eating grits from here on out too. By the way, DO NOT use quick grits. Use the real deal original grits. You will thank me later.

If you didn't know, the Foodimentary Guy is my big brother. I think it is funny that all of my blogs make him hungry. It is also amusing to me that he begs for leftovers, but sadly, there were no leftovers this time. Sorry Foodimentary Guy. I know you are starving now! You might want to wipe the drool off of your computer.