My brother-in-law is straight up Southern. Born and bred in south South Carolina, he hunts snakes, hunts deer, and owns more flip-flops than a Surfer. He takes a lot of pride in being able to rustle up his favorite southern vittles like black-eyed peas or BBQ shrimp, or shrimp & cheese grits. I loooooove shrimp and grits but I love it, even more,  when I combine BBQ shrimp(normally served with bread) by smothering thick, flavorful grits. I don’t love, however, love the 6 sticks of butter and cups of the cheddar cheese in the traditional recipes. This is my version where I decrease the butter in the sauce by adding a cup of fish stock and replace the cheese in the grits with chicken stock. Is it the same? Nope! But feel better able being a bit greedy with those smothered grits and BBQ shrimps!

Preparation time:

30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs raw shrimp – peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup Worchestershire sauce
• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1 cup fish stock
• 4 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 4 teaspoons cracked black pepper
• 4 teaspoons Creole seasoning
• 2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 3 cups corn grits/ polenta
• 6 cups water
• 3 cups chicken broth

Equipment needed:

• Small cutting board
• Citrus juicer
• Small knife
• Saute pan with lid
• Small bowl to hold shrimp
• Large stock pot

Preparation:

1. Bring water and chicken broth to a rolling boil
2. Combine Worcestershire sauce through garlic in the saucepan and heat on low until simmering
3. Add raw shrimp and sauce in the sauce until just opaque or pink
4. Remove from sauce and set aside to add later
5. Add butter to the sauce, a few cubes at a time, and whisk rapidly into the sauce. Whisking the butter will allow the butter to incorporate into the sauce creating an emulsion that will not separate when heated.
6. Allow the bbq sauce to simmer until slightly thickened. Once thickened, turn off heat.
7. Add the shrimp back to the BBQ sauce and toss to coat. Once the shrimp is warm throughout, place the lid on the saucepan.
8. When the BBQ is ready to serve, turn off heat and stir polenta into the water. Keep stirring the polenta until it absorbs the water to create a pudding-like texture
9. Stir in salt to taste
10. Once the polenta is soft and smooth, serve in a large serving bowl
11. Spoon the shrimp and BBQ sauce over the corn grits. Serve immediately
12. Enjoy!

What’s better than Shrimp and Grits? Hams & Greens!