Andy's Shrimp & Grits

K and I made this because I love shrimp & grits and because it was in the momofuku cookbook. Cooking shrimp is also a great way to manage my seafood addiction because it one of the more affordable seafood options. 

Grits are very underappreciated in the north. Even in nyc, where there is quite a bit of food diversity, many people are very hesitant around grits. I've learned that such people either had very bad grits somewhere (spongy, white-rice like stuff) or don't really know what grits are. I've come to this conclusion because it is very unlikely that anyone would actually dislike grits described below - it's like corn-based risotto or something. 

I think we first made shrimp & grits after K spent a week (not really an exaggeration) producing momofuku pork broth, which made the shrimp & grits and everything else it touched absurdly good. Unless you are crazy and/or noodle-obsessed (K), you probably won't commit the time and effort to produce this broth, but shrimp & grits can still be delicious. This version included brussel sprouts but it's equally good with something like kale or collards.

 

[Note from K: the picture with the egg is from the Momofuku recipe.  The second picture is Andy's recipe, which I think is what he has here and is pretty different actually.]

 

ingredients

shrimp - buy however many you need. I always buy fresh or as close-to-fresh gulf shrimp as possible. I do not buy peeled and deveined shrimp because they cost a lot more and it is very easy to peel shrimp. You don't have to devein them. I'm not sure why anyone deveins shrimp but I'm sure you could find plenty of opinions on the matter over the internet. Restaurants often serve shrimp in shell or partially in shell in which case they are often not deveined. So don't worry about it. It's also not that hard to devein if you find out you care about this for some strange reason. I feel like K may care but she doesn't really know what is going on because I cook the shrimp. 

Anson Mills quick grits - yes, I'm demanding that you order grits from Anson Mills. You can get them online and they are not super expensive. I'm sure there are other brands that are fine but it isn't that easy to get decent grits in the northeast and you don't want your grits tasting like a waffle house. So just buy a bunch of these and store in the freezer, where they will last forever. 

olive oil - for cooking the shrimp

salt, pepper or other seasoning - for seasoning the shrimp and for the grits

2 to 3 tbsp unsalted butter - for the grits

brussels

instructions 

1. The grits will take longer than anything else so start here. You should soak them the night before, because they taste better and don't take as long, but who can remember to do that? Anyway, it is really easy to cook the grits. Anson Mills recommends a 3:1 water:grit recipe if you soak, or 4:1 if you do not. The grits do take a lot of stirring, especially at first. You are supposed to stir constantly until "first starch takes hold". That may sound a little strange but will make sense after you cook grits. First starch will take less than 10 mins (Anson Mills says 5 but sometimes it takes longer). Total time is 15 minutes if soaked, 30 if not. The butter, salt and pepper are added at the end. Check out the Anson Mills recipe here: http://ansonmills.com/recipes/458

2. Rub the shrimp with some olive oil and spices. "Spices" can just be salt and pepper. I sometimes use a lemon pepper mix I bought at my fish store, it's mainly just lemon peel, pepper and garlic. You definitely do not need any more than that, good shrimp has plenty of taste itself. 

3. IF THERE IS ONE THING I want to contribute to this blog, it is to combat the epidemic of overcooked seafood in some small way. Just stop doing it. It's such a tragedy. Seafood is not cheap hamburger meat - it's delicate and I just don't understand why you would pay for such expensive food and then ruin it.  As seafood goes, shrimp is relatively tough, so it's an easy way to start learning. I like to cook it in my cask iron skillet over very high heat. I press each shrimp down with a spatula as I cook on one side for a very short time (enough to get side pink but not really brown), then flip and do the same on the other side. It WILL take less than 10 minutes to cook shrimp. Probably more like 5-8. This is incredibly easy which is why I get very angry when I eat poorly cooked shrimp.  

4. Cook the brussels or whatever other green you have. I don't think I need to add instrutions on how to do this. You don't have to go overboard with seasoning as you should probably end up mixing in with the grits anyway.