Shrimp and Grits: A must have recipe for every southern girl!

This is what I woke up to yesterday morning. Not your everyday morning in South Carolina!

We ventured out into the snow to feed animals and to check on Hamlet, our pig who decided to go into labor when this snow storm approached. There is definitely something to weather patterns and going into labor! (check out the blog about her piglets at clearcreekfarmsc.blogspot.com).  Because I couldn't stand in front of the fire long enough to warm up, I decided that we needed to have something warm and filling for supper-Shrimp and Grits!

Carrie, my sister in law!

I have to give thanks to my sister-in-law (Thanks Carrie) for showing me how to cook this recipe because it has become one of my favorite dishes to cook. Over the years, I have changed it a little bit to appeal to my New Orleans upbringing but it is still very close to the original recipe.  Today, I will share that recipe with you because I have not found another one like it.  

Here are the key ingredients to this dish that make it so very different from the other Shrimp and Grit recipes that I have had, and trust me, I usually order it off the menu when we go places. I left out the can of tomatoes in this picture, but they are definitely a key ingredient. The whipping cream goes with the grits, but I will let you know about that later. 

First, I started off by frying bacon. I usually use about 1/2 pack of bacon to make bacon bits. Tonight I made more because I wanted to eat some while I was cooking.  So, fry the bacon until it's crispy but not burnt!  Chop or crumble it up into small pieces. I would start making your grits at this point because they can take a while to cook and the next steps will go pretty quickly!

Here is my soap box about grits: they should be very creamy, almost like mashed potatoes. To do this, I cook my grits with water and whipping cream (or half and half). Just take the amount of water that they call for and use half for water and half for whipping cream.  I also add a 1/2 stick of butter and plenty of salt to my grits. Okay, now back to sauce!

  

Next, chop approximately 5-6 mushrooms. Here I used Portabella mushrooms because I LOVE the flavor. 

Also, chop a small onion. While you are chopping these, place a stick of butter in a pan over medium heat until it is melted. After the butter is melted, add the onions to cook until translucent and add the mushrooms. 

After the mushrooms are cooked, add approximately 50 shrimp that have been peeled and deveined. You can add more or less, depending on how concentrated you would like your shrimp and grits.  Allow your shrimp to cook for about a minute. Then add 2 tablespoons of Old Bay Seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper, 8 dashes of worcestershire sauce, 4 dashes of cayenne pepper, 4 dashes of Tobasco and your bacon bits. This is going to seem very dry, but trust me, you are on the right track.  (If you don't like spicy then I would definitely cut down on the white pepper)

You then add a can of diced tomatoes (drain most of the juice, but not all). It should look like this.  You will start to have everyone come into the kitchen at this point asking "when are we eating?" Then, you add the final ingredient and the most important, besides the shrimp: THE ALFREDO SAUCE!

It will then become this creamy mixture that is like heaven to any man's heart!

I assemble shredded cheddar cheese to the bottom of the bowl and then add grits on top of that.  

Finally, I put the shrimp mixture over top of all of that goodness.  Oh, cheddar cheese biscuits go great with this meal to soak up all of the left overs in the bowl. Hope you enjoy!