"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
Slowly whisk in the grits. Set heat to very low and cover.
Creole Seasoning - The creole seasoning was adapted from Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning. If you don't want to make your own, then use a popular brand such as Tony Chachere’s or Zatarain’s.
Vegetables – For the onion, you can use just onion, a combination of onion and scallions, or use all scallions with the green tops.
Stock – To make a very simple shrimp stock, add the shrimp peels to 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer while you chop and saute' the vegetables. When you're ready to add to the dish, pour through a strainer and add the desired amount to the skillet. Freeze the rest for another day.
Bacon – Use a tasty, thick sliced bacon. Even though this recipe calls for 4 pieces of bacon, I really only use about 3 pieces. The fourth piece just seems to disappear before it makes it to the bowls.
Cooking the shrimp – Don't overcook the shrimp! If you use small shrimp, cook no more than 3 minutes, medium and large shrimp for 4 minutes and jumbo shrimp no more than 5 minutes. Turn the shrimp over halfway through the cook time for even cooking. Once the shrimp turn pink all over, they are done enough. Keep in mind they are going to continue to cook while they sit in the stock, waiting to be dished up.
Grits - Some recipes call for the stone ground grits. These take 20 to 25 minutes to cook. I use quick grits (NOT instant) which cook in 5 minutes. Personally, having cooked both quick grits and stone ground, I’ll stick with the quick grits. I’ve never been able to taste much of a difference. (To read more about grits, and grits vs. polenta, see my Grits and Green Chile post.)
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen