Shrimp and Grits

We have been having a ton of tasty new dishes lately, but I just haven't had a chance to sit down and post about them! Everyone else in my house is sleeping, so I'm trying to get some cleaning and blogging done while I have some alone time! This is actually the most recent thing we've had, and I'll admit I feel a little guilty not posting something older, but this was so incredibly good I didn't want to wait.

A few years ago we went on vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC with my mom and aunt. Boy #2 was only an itty bitty baby! While we were there we drove down to see Fort Sumter and Charleston for a day. The husband is a good ol' Southern boy and loved seeing such an integral site in the "war of northern aggression." We found a place for dinner before heading back to Myrtle Beach, and the husband had shrimp and grits. They were AMAZING. I came home wanting to make some, saved a recipe on Food.com and then proceeded to never, ever make it. Now fast forward to a week or so ago, and I was flipping through Cooking Light from a couple months ago and saw a recipe for crawfish and grits. Crawfish are hard to come by here in the desert, but I knew that shrimp was on sale, so I figured I could switch it up a bit. Grits proved slightly easier to find than crawfish, but it was still not an easy search. Or rather, non-instant grits proved difficult to find, but as everyone knows (or everyone who's seen "My Cousin Vinny") no self-respecting southerner (or self-respecting wife of a southerner) would ever make instant grits. So if you want non-instant grits, head to Trader Joe's, not Safeway. FYI. ;)

Shrimp and Grits
Adapted from Saucy Crawfish With Whole Corn Grits from Cooking Light, August 2012

Grits:
3 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk, divided
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels
1 chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup uncooked regular grits
2 ounces reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese (about 1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons light sour cream

Shrimp:
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped andouille sausage or kielbasa (about 1.5 ounces)
2/3 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons tomato paste
12 ounces shrimp
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, divided


1. To prepare grits, combine 1/2 cup milk, corn, and chipotle chile in a blender; process until the corn is coarsely chopped.

2. Combine remaining 3 cups milk, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Gradually add grits, stirring with a whisk. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 11 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Add corn mixture; cook an additional 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; add cheese and 3 tablespoons sour cream, stirring until cheese melts. Keep warm.

3. To prepare shrimp, place flour in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Remove flour from pan; set aside. Wipe pan clean.

4. Return pan to medium heat. Add oil and sausage to pan; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add reserved flour, tomato paste, and shrimp; cook until shrimp are pink, stirring frequently. Stir in 1 cup milk; bring to a simmer, and cook 2 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/4 cup sour cream. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon chives over shrimp mixture. Stir 3 tablespoons chives into grits; serve with shrimp mixture.

*****

Since I was a grits cooking novice, the husband stepped in and helped me out a bit with them. He used to be a master grill operator at the Waffle House, so he knows a thing or two or twenty about cooking grits. I should add that I didn't really follow the grit cooking directions above. I did at first, but after 11 minutes my grits hadn't thickened at all, so I turned the heat back up and kept the cover off my pot. That worked much better, and the husband said he didn't know why you'd cover it and turn the heat down in the first place.

This was simply amazing and delicious and fantastic and tasty. I went a little overboard plating grits, but it worked out. They were so tasty with the added kick of the chipotle pepper in there and the fresh corn and creamy from the cheese and sour cream. The little chunks of andouille sausage mixed in with the shrimp was fantastic too. If you're not a fan of spicy, this dish probably isn't for you, but we loved it. I probably wouldn't serve this to my kiddos because they'd complain about too many aspects of it, but it's definitely something I'd make for the husband and me again!!

Pizza Loaf

And my updating continues! Boy #2 has taken to getting up at the ass crack of dawn, so while he's engrossed in an episode of Word World I figured I'd do some blog updating. For my meal plan last week I went through some older clipped recipes I had. For years my mom got me a subscription to Taste of Home magazine. I'd doggy-ear a bunch of recipes in each issue and then usually forget about it. I got tired of having years' worth of magazines around, so I finally went through each one and looked at all the recipes again (the husband has gotten more adventurous in his eating over the years, so I knew there'd be stuff I had originally passed up but that he'd eat now) and cut out all the recipes I wanted to try. Then I stuck them in a folder and forgot about them there. Not really, I just rarely pull that folder out to go through the recipes in it. I figured I was probably missing out on some tasty stuff, so I got it out last week and did the bulk of my meal planning using recipes from there.

Boy #1 had his first friend sleepover last week, and I thought this would be a good dinner to have while his BFF was here eating dinner with us.

Pizza Loaf
Source: Adapted from Quick Cooking Magazine, September/October 2003

1 loaf (1 pound) frozen bread dough, thawed
2 eggs, separated
1 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1Tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 tsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
8 ounces sliced turkey pepperoni
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 medium green pepper, diced
Marinara sauce for dipping

On a greased baking sheet, roll out dough into a 15-inch x 10-inch rectangle. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, parmesan cheese, oil, parsley, oregano, garlic powder, and pepper. Brush over the dough. Sprinkle with pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, and green pepper. Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal and tuck ends under.

Place seam side down; brush with egg whites. Do not let rise. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Warm the marinara sauce and serve with sliced loaf.

Yield: 10-12 slices

*****

First of all, make sure you allow enough time for the frozen dough to rise, if you're using that instead of making your own. There are three thawing options on the package, including a "quick" rise that takes around three hours instead of overnight. I didn't have that problem this time, but it has happened to me before.

This was a HUGE hit at my house. Boy #1 isn't a fan of pepperoni or anything on pizza except cheese, but even he ate it (admittedly it was somewhat begrudgingly). The husband kept going back for more pieces, and the BFF had two pieces of it. This was definitely a fun twist on pizza and something I'll make again since we all loved it so much.

(Sorry again for the cell phone pic!)

Grilled Beef Fajitas

I recently picked up quite a bit of flank steak on sale, and I was kind of tired of marinating it in something and throwing it on the grill. Okay, not really, but I wanted to do something different with it. I once again pulled out my trusty Cook's Illustrated 2009 Summer Grilling magazine for an idea. Grilled Beef Fajitas sounded pretty darn tasty and worthy of a try.

Grilled Beef Fajitas
Source: Cook's Illustrated Summer Grilling 2009 magazine

1 large flank steak (about 2-1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup juice from 2-3 limes
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 very large onion (about 14 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds (do not separate into rings)
2 large red or green bell peppers, seeded, ribbed, and cut into large strips
16 flour tortillas

Turn all burners to high on gas grill and heat with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Use grill brush to scrape cooking grate clean.

Generously sprinkle both sides of steak with lime juice and salt and pepper. Grill steak with lid down until well seared and dark brown on one side, 5-7 minutes. Using tongs, flip steak; continue grilling until interior of meat is slightly less done than you want it to be when you eat it, 2 to 5 minutes more for rare or medium-rare (depending on heat of fire and thickness of steak).

Transfer meat to cutting board; cover loosely with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

While meat rests, lower grill burners to medium heat. Grill onions and peppers, turning occasionally, until onions are lightly charred, about 6 minutes, and peppers are streaked with dark grill marks, about 10 minutes. Remove vegetables from grill and separate onion rounds into rings and cut peppers into long, thin strips; set aside. Arrange tortillas around edge of grill; heat until just warmed, about 20 seconds per side. Take care not to dry out tortillas or they will become brittle; wrap tortillas in a towel to keep warm and then place in basket.

Slice steak very thin on the bias against grain; adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Arrange sliced meat and vegetables on a large platter; serve immediately with tortillas, guacamole, and salsa.

Serves 6 to 8.

*****

I really love fajitas. I think maybe it stems from being fascinated with the sizzling fajita plates that would go by in Mexican restaurants when I was little. Or I just liked Mexican food. Or grilled Mexican food. Anyway, I didn't really change this up a lot. I had never grilled all portions of fajitas before. A lot of times I'll grill the meat or protein for them but do the peppers and onions in a skillet on the stove. Well...NO MORE! The grilled vegetables were amazing. They added so much flavor to the finished fajita with the hint of smokiness the grill gave them. Oh man...TASTY! This is definitely my go-to way to prepare fajitas going forward!

Eggplant Pasta Sauce

I mentioned in a previous post that my father-in-law came to visit recently to go see some hockey playoff games (Red Wings vs. Coyotes) with the husband. I wanted a crockpot dinner for one of the nights so we'd be sure to eat dinner before they had to leave for the game. I'd received an eggplant in my produce co-op the week before and needed to be using it. I found a pasta sauce recipe in one of my slow cooker cookbooks that used eggplant, so I thought it would be a great choice.

Eggplant Pasta Sauce

1 lb. eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 14-oz cans Italian diced tomatoes (with garlic, oregano, and basil), undrained
1 6-oz can Italian tomao paste with roasted garlic
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tsp minced garlic
1-1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1-1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
4 cups hot cooked penne

Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients except pasta and cheese in slow cooker and mix. Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3.5-4 hours. Serve over hot, cooked pasta and top with parmesan cheese if desired.

*****

I didn't have any mushrooms on hand, so instead I added in some diced zucchini. I also thought two cans of tomatoes didn't look like it was going to be saucy enough, so I added in a third. None of them were the Italian style, so I just added in more of the Italian seasoning to compensate for it.

This worked out perfectly to make for that night! We ended up being gone most of the afternoon, so I wouldn't have had much time to get something together for dinner. This way all I had to do was boil some water, throw in the pasta, and dish it up. I made Barefoot Contessa's Garlic Ciabbata Bread to go along with it. This sauce was really good, and I loved all the vegetables in it to make it chunky and give it a nutritional boost. Everyone really enjoyed the sauce--my kids even ate it up! This was a great crockpot spaghetti sauce that I'll definitely make again!

(Note: This made quite a bit, so I froze about half the sauce. It was definitely better the first time around...it lost a lot of the flavor and the vegetables didn't really hold their texture once frozen. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely better when it was fresh.)

Rick Bayless Barbecue Baked Beans

Late last year I checked out a cookbook from the library written by Rick Bayless and his daughter Lanie, Rick and Lanie's Excellent Kitchen Adventure. I loved what I saw when I flipped through it, and I ended up buying it on Amazon for $10. Pretty good deal I thought! It's not just Mexican recipes like most of his cookbooks, it covers other ethnic cuisines from places they have traveled as a family--Spain, Morocco, France, Thailand--and recipes from the barbecue restaurant Rick's family had when he was growing up. I'm so glad I thought of that section when I was looking for recipes to make for Brisketfest 2010.

Hickory House Barbecue Baked Beans
Copyright 2004, Rick and Lanie's Excellent Kitchen Adventures

1/2 large green or red bell pepper, cut in small pieces
Two 15-ounce cans pinto beans or navy beans, drained and rinsed (or 3 to 3-1/2 cups home-cooked pinto or navy beans well seasoned with salt)
1 cup barbecue sauce, store bought or homemade
1/2 cup water or bean cooking liquid if using home-cooked beans
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

In an 8-inch square baking pan, mix together everything except Worcestershire sauce. Stir well to dissolve sugar completely. Dribble Worcestershire over top. Bake until slightly thickened, glazed and browned on top, and bubbling vigorously around the edges, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool slightly before serving.

*****

I have never been a fan of baked beans, except for a recipe my friend Rebecca makes that has bacon and bacon drippings in it. Who wouldn't like that?! Okay, maybe a vegetarian, but even then I think they'd secretly enjoy it (if they weren't getting sick from it). I figured I have yet to be disappointed by a Rick Bayless recipe, so I was hoping this would turn me on to baked beans.

Man alive, did it ever!! These beans are amazing--so easy to put together, so full of taste and flavor. Yum!! I much prefer making these from just plain pinto beans instead of doctoring up a can of baked beans. This is definitely my go-to baked beans recipe now, and I may even start putting it in my meal plans as a side dish!

Beans ready to be thrown into oven (or gently placed, rather, so they didn't spill everywhere):


Finished product...sorry it's so blurry!

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

I have some massive blog updating to do! I was really trying this week to get back into a normal groove and get my house back in order after all the traveling we've been doing, but in doing that my blog fell to the wayside.

As I said in my last post, my challenge this week was to make dinners using only ingredients I had on hand. I cheated only a little and had to buy some chicken broth and brown rice, but that was it. I was excited to realize I had everything on hand for this recipe because it's one we really like, but for some reason I don't make it very often. I definitely need to add it to the rotation more often!

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

I had some andouille sausage in the freezer that needed to be used up, so I cooked that in a skillet to render off some of the fat, then I sliced it and threw it in the slow cooker. The husband and I always enjoy this when we have it for dinner, the boy ate it okay, but I was SHOCKED that the baby shoveled it down! He ate about as much as I did! He's going to be my spicy food kid for sure, even though it wasn't that spicy, but I have to imagine for a baby it was.

Sloppy Joes

I'm really not very excited about tonight's dinner, but I couldn't come up with anything different to make that didn't involve a trip to the store. And I first had lentil tacos slated for tonight, and this does sound slightly better than that. I think my first week on WW I should have stuck with recipes I know and have made before instead of trying all new ones.

Sloppy Joes

4 tsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1/2 carrot, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp hot red pepper sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 rolls or hamburger buns

In a medium nonstick saucepan, heat the oil. Saute the onions, celery, carrot, and bell pepper until the onions are translucent, 10-12 minutes. Stir in the oregano and thyme, then add the beef and cook, breaking it apart until no longer pink, 5-7 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, tomato paste, and 2 Tbsp water; add to the beef mixture and cook 1 minute. Stir in the worcestershire sauce, vinegar, pepper sauce, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Serve on the rolls/buns.

*****

I usually really like sloppy joes, so I don't know why I'm so lukewarm about this. I think we'll have baked potatoes on the side and some kind of mixed vegetable blend.

*****

These were just okay. I like my usual Sloppy Joe recipe a lot better and will probably stick with that going forward. None of us were overly fond of this recipe.

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Man, we have had a crazy few days at our house. The husband leads a ministry team at our church, and we had a BBQ here yesterday afternoon for everyone that serves on the team. Saturday was spent getting the house cleaned and ready for that, then we went to my mom's for swimming and dinner. My uncle grilled steaks which were fantastic! I definitely over-indulged. Yesterday was church then last minute BBQ stuff and then the BBQ. It was fun and we were able to get to know the people serving on his team a little better. We did it potluck style, so everyone coming brought a side dish or dessert, so all we had to do was grill hamburgers and hot dogs. Most people left the food they brought, so when everyone left I surveyed the kitchen and called my friend Jen B. to see if they would want to come join us for dinner because we had an insane amount of food leftover. We had a great time with them--I think we were laughing just about the whole time. The boy loves playing with their son, so they had a good time too.

I wanted something easy for dinner tonight that I could put in the crockpot early in the day and just let it go so dinner would be ready when we were. I saw a package of sliced peppers in my freezer that I bought on my last Trader Joe's excursion, and seeing those reminded me of this recipe that we really liked when I first made it, but then I hadn't made it again since then.

Here's my original post:

Crockpot Beer Chicken Fajitas

The husband went grocery shopping for me while I cleaned house on Saturday and could not find the fajita seasoning anywhere in the store. I told him to forget about it, and I went to Walmart today and bought two packets. Then I totally kicked myself when I looked at the ingredients after putting them in the crockpot and saw that MSG was the second ingredient. Yuck. That's when I kicked myself because I remembered my cousin had sent me a recipe she uses for homemade fajita seasoning. Ugh. Next time!!

I also had a little beer mishap. I couldn't in good conscience let half a beer go to waste, even though it was 11:30 when I was putting this in the crockpot. I put the beer bottle on the kitchen table and went to sit down next to the boy while he was eating his lunch and somehow knocked the bottle over. Obviously it was a sign that I shouldn't have been drinking before noon.

I'm not sure what we're going to have with this. I had to return that Rick Bayless cookbook I was holding hostage from the library, so I borrowed Jen B's copy of it because there were some salad dressing recipes in it I wanted to try, but of course I'm missing main ingredients for each of them. I have a southwestern vegetable blend in the freezer I'll probably heat up and then just have a salad on the side.

Shrimp Creole

One of the dinners I had planned for this week was a jambalaya recipe I haven't made in a long, long time. In thinking about it, I decided I'd rather make shrimp creole, which is something else I haven't made in a long, long time. I figured I could make jambalaya next week with just chicken and sausage, then this week I can use some of the shrimp I have for shrimp creole. It's really super yummy, and I can't even remember the last time we had it. I'm really excited!

Shrimp Creole
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup butter
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, undrained
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp water
1 pound uncooked, medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 to 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
Hot cooked rice

In a Dutch oven, saute onion, green pepper, and celery in butter until tender. Add the tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, salt, and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard the bay leaves.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour and water until smooth; add to tomato mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, worcestershire, and hot pepper sauce. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Serve over rice, garnish with parsley and green onions.

*****

This is one of the first cajun dishes I ever made, and the husband (although he was the boyfriend at the time) loved it. I think we'll just have some bread and a salad on the side. Mmmmm...I can't wait for dinner!