Shrimp and Grits

I was very kindly invited to spend Thanksgiving with my little brother's girlfriend's family this year.  With my parents overseas, I am always a bit of a Thanksgiving orphan.  It was nice to be welcomed into another family for the day, everyone was so kind and welcoming.  When I asked what I could bring I was told to be creative.  I decided to go with a traditional Southern dish, shrimp and grits.  But as usual, I put my own spin on it.  Be warned - this is not a healthy recipe.

I made WAY too much, as I had three pans about this size.  I took two pans to Thanksgiving and I have one left over for me to eat this week.  I was pretty pleased with the results.  My inspiration again comes from the ever lovely Paula Deen.  A coworker of mine often makes her tomato grits recipe for work functions, and it is always delicious.  I decided to make "Shrimp, Sausage and Tomato Grits" and it was very well received by all.  The recipe below is exactly what I made, it fed 18 people with some leftovers plus my extra pan... If you were making it as a main dish it would serve a lot less, but you might want to cut it in half.

Ingredients:

1 Pound Raw Shrimp

1 Pound Smoked Sausage

4 Cups of Quick Grits

4 Cups of Chicken Stock

2 Cups of Water

2 10 oz Cans of Rotel

3 Cups of Shredded Cheese

1/4 Cup of Parmesan Cheese

Tony Cachere's 

Put the chicken stock and water in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Add the grits slowly to the boiling stock and water stirring as you go.  (If you dump them all in at once you will get clumps of grits and no one likes that.)  Cover the grits for 3 minutes and then stir very well.  Repeat until the grits are cooked, you will want to taste them and make sure they are done.

Add the 2 cans of Rotel (or any can of tomatoes and peppers) to the grits and stir to combine.  Add in the cheese and stir to combine.  I used 2 cups of Colby Jack, but regular cheddar would be fine as well.  I used a cup of Habenero cheddar as well, but you will want to avoid this if you are not a fan of spicy food.  

Move the grits into a baking dish (or multiple dishes if you don't have a large dish).  Top the grits with a light sprinkle of cheese.  I used about a cup of Colby Jack in total.  Place casserole in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble and brown slightly.  

Slice your sausage into 1/4 inch slices and then quarter each slice.  Saute until the pieces start to brown.  Peel the shrimp and cut into 2 or 3 pieces depending on the size of the shrimp.  Sprinkle the shrimp lightly with the Tony's (or any seasoned salt you like) and then add the shrimp to the pan with the sausage.  Cook until the shrimp turn pink.  Remove the casserole from the oven and top the casserole with the shrimp and sausage mixture.  

Happy Dining!