Lowcountry Shrimp & Grits
Having grown up in Charleston, South Carolina for most of my life, it's safe to say that I've had my fair share of shrimp and grits. And I'm very partial (and honestly biased) about who makes my shrimp and grits and whether I would actually pay money for them when I go out to eat. I'll simply say this: I find that very traditional, Southern soul food is still a loaded subject here in the South. Especially now since a larger focus has been placed on where these recipes come from and paying homage to who actually created them. It's so crucial to not give all the praises to the famous and prominent chefs who learned these recipes from the often nameless and faceless people of color and unfairly taking credit. Needless to say, I've got plenty to write about the subjects of food culture and the negative impacts of gentrification but that will be another blog post one day, trust me. Moving on!
When we first arrived to Charleston, I vividly remember trying shrimp and grits. First of all, I didn't even know what grits were. And why were shrimp being served on them? And the gravy, what in the world is this? This isn't sweet. It was such a bizarre combination to me because the only grains I had up until that point were cream of wheat and sweet cornmeal with cinnamon (which we call funche back home). But let me tell you, I was absolutely hooked.
To me, Charleston-style shrimp and grits always have a brown gravy. No tomato sauce, heavy cream, or even scampi. Just brown gravy. The shrimp aren’t deep fried or grilled. And often, smaller shrimp were used so you got lots of shrimp in every bite. My favorite way to have it is insanely simple, a bacon-based onion gravy with shrimp. This adaptation has a few more ingredients like peppers and garlic for those who want to venture out a little bit.
My mom's best friend, a sweet and hilarious woman nicknamed China, taught my mom how to make her shrimp and grits. And she taught her how to make Charleston red rice. And fried cabbage. And fried shark. And skillet cornbread. So, growing up, we had a blend of Puerto Rican food and Gullah Geechee-based soul food at home. It truly molded my cooking techniques along with my adoration and respect for Southern cuisine. And if you're from the Charleston area and reading this, please know that China is from Grimball Road right here on James Island, so this is recipe adaptation is going to be super legit. Haha!
I adapted China's recipe and made it my very own. I stuck with local ingredients for this dish because it felt right: sweet, wild-caught Carolina shrimp, stone-ground grits from North Carolina, and savory sausage from Savannah, Georgia. Using local ingredients make me happy, especially when I can support the local economy and its food culture.
This dish brings me back to a lot of childhood memories and I can also honestly say that as I was making it, it reminded me of growing up here on the island and going to my best friend's home on Sol Legare Road. We couldn't get a single foot in or out of the house without being served a plate full of food (and one to take home to my mom) by her grandma and I'd love to think that Miss Mary (Grandma Lolo, to me) along with China, would both truly enjoy this meal. So, in their honor, let's bring on the good memories and get cooking!
Lowcountry Shrimp and Grits
Cook time: at least 2 hours, start to finish
Serves 6-8 (we didn't have any leftovers)
Olive oil
1 package Savannah Sausage Company Vidalia Onion and Uncured Bacon sausage, sliced into half moons (if you can't find this brand, use smoked sausage or diced thick-cut bacon)
2 small yellow onions, diced
2 small green peppers, diced
4 cloves of garlic, smashed but kept whole
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Kosher salt
Black pepper
3 tbsp dried shrimp powder*
1/4 cup AP flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 lbs, 31-40 count wild-caught Carolina shrimp, peeled and deveined
Water, as needed
A pot of cooked stone ground grits, see notes below
*If you're not able to find dried shrimp powder, you can easily use seafood stock. I just used what I had on hand for this recipe so I used the chicken broth and then added the shrimp powder for some extra shrimp flavor. I also kept the shells from the shrimp for this recipe to freeze for a future batch of seafood stock.
In a large, deep pan frying pan or sauce pan, add a small amount of olive oil to coat the bottom. Over medium heat, add the sliced sausage and render out the fat. This will take about 10-15 minutes because you want them to be nice and crispy like below.
Then, add the diced onion and whole garlic cloves. It's okay to leave the garlic cloves whole because you're going to remove them before making the gravy.
After you've cooked the onions and sausage for about 10 minutes and the onions get pretty translucent, add the green peppers, butter, dried oregano, dried thyme, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Stir well and cook for another 10 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the onions are caramelizing. Season liberally with kosher salt and black pepper. Then add the dried shrimp powder and stir well.
Next, remove the garlic cloves from the vegetables and discard them. After cooking down the sausage and vegetable mixture for about 4 minutes, add the flour.
Stir well to incorporate the flour into the mixture and let the flour actually cook; you want to make sure that you cook the raw flour taste out of the base before adding the broth or stock to make your gravy. Cook the base for about 3-5 minutes. Then gradually add the broth and stir well. You don't want to add the broth all at once or it will take longer to soak up into the base and could possibly result in lumps. Add it a cup at a time, and stir. Let the mixture come back to a boil and then add the next cup and continue until all the broth is used. It should like this below, thick and creamy. Reduce the heat down to a simmer and cover the gravy with a lid to let it hang out for a bit.
Now, time to work on the grits. Most people have a love/hate relationship with grits and I'm a firm believer that people who hate grits just haven't had them made correctly. Of course you won't like those bland, gritty, instant, watery ass grits. Gross. Stone ground goodness is what we use in this house. Grits that are cooked low and slow with a mixture of water, heavy cream, half and half, butter, and aromatics until each single grain bursts and ends up being super soft and decadent. Anything else would be completely uncivilized.
The easiest way to make grits is to follow the package directions for the liquid to grain ratio and then cook them way longer than the package advises. Honestly! Instead of solely using water, use the mixture I stated above. For example, if you're using 3 cups of liquid for your grits, use 1 1/2 cups of water and the other 1 1/2 cups for heavy cream and half and half. I like using both to cut down on the extra fattiness of the heavy cream. Add a few knobs of butter, lots of salt, fresh cracked black pepper and there you have it. Whisk away as you add the grits to the boiling liquid to avoid lumps and let those babies cook. If they get too dry, start adding a little more half and half and work with it until they're the desired consistency. Just keep that going for at least 30-45 minutes.
For this particular grits recipe, I used the same herbs and seasonings in the gravy to steep in the milk mixture. I also added a green onion stalk that I plucked out before adding the grits. Once they're done, keep them on low and warm until you're ready for the gravy.
Now, it's time to fold in the raw shrimp into the gravy and simmer until they're pink and tender. I typically don't season the shrimp simply because the gravy is already packed with flavor. After a few minutes, I'd say maybe 5-7, see if the shrimp are ready by making sure they are no longer translucent.
When you're ready to eat, pour the grits into a big bowl and spoon the shrimp and sausage gravy right over them. Garnish with fresh chopped chives or green onion and enjoy! Go back for seconds and thirds; I know we did.
¡Buen provecho!