Fallen Souffle

Shrimp and Grits has become one of my favorite meals. When I go out to eat and see it on the menu I have to try it, it has become my baseline dish of a restaurant. I figured it couldn’t be too hard to try to recreate the dish; grits are cheap, cheese comes in a ton of varieties and shrimp takes no time to cook…oh and bacon makes everything better!

I started with a really basic recipe from Bobby Flay. It take no time to make and the results are good. I still need to work on adding my own twist on it, maybe some mushroom or scallops and maybe a different cheese but I didn’t get any complaints from the taste testers.

One thing to note, my grits took no where near 25 minutes to cook, I went by the package instructions and mine took about 7 minutes so read the instructions on your grits! Overall is took about 20 minutes to put these meal together and was perfect for the cold weather that is rolling into NC.

Shrimp and Grits
4 cups water
Salt and pepper
1 cup stone-ground grits
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 slices bacon, chopped
4 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 large clove garlic, minced

Bring water to a boil. Add salt and pepper. Add grits and cook until water is absorbed, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and cheese.

Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Fry the bacon in a large skillet until browned; drain well. In grease, add shrimp. Cook until shrimp turn pink. Add lemon juice, chopped bacon, parsley, scallions and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes.

Spoon grits into a serving bowl. Add shrimp mixture and mix well. Serve immediately.

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Evan is out of town for another Bachelor Party so I thought I would take advantage of this time alone and do all of the girlie things I long to do; watch reality TV all night while eating cherries, putting on a clay mask and giving myself a pedicure, and eating things like salmon, shrimp and avocados. What could be better! I actually bought a large piece of salmon a few weeks ago at Sam’s and cut it up into individual portions, each with a different sauce/marinade.

For tonight, I pulled out a honey-bourbon glazed salmon. The salmon takes no time to defrost, though you could just marinate this in a fridge for a bit. The outside is slightly sweet and offers a bit of a crisp crust. The inside is moist and delicious. I served this with sauteed spinach and a pomegranate spritzer and I had quite a healthy meal!

Honey Bourbon Glazed Salmon
serves 1-2

2 pieces of salmon, about the size of your palm
2 T. bourbon
2 T. honey
minced garlic and pepper to taste

1. Place all ingredients in a ziploc bag and mix around. Throw into freezer or fridge to marinate.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place thawed salmon on a tin foil lined baking sheet sprayed with a bit of oil. (We like easy cleanup!) Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and flakes nicely.

3. Serve with your favorite sauteed or roasted veggies!

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I don’t think I have ever eaten as much tuna as I did last week…not that I am complaining While at the beach we were treated to an amazing lunch of fresh tuna that was literally alive just that morning. It was cooked perfectly…nice and rare…though I think I could have had it raw with some soy sauce. We were given the leftovers to enjoy for dinner so I though I would get a little creative and whip up a tuna salad for a slight change of pace.

I had just seen Ina make a fresh tuna salad so I took some inspiration from her recipe. Unlike her I did not take exact measurements but you will get the gist of it. I am intrigued by avocados right now for some reason so I added one which added a nice creamy texture to the tuna. I made a simple vinaigrette with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and salt and pepper. I added all of this to about 2 cup of chopped fresh tuna and a chopped roma tomato. The result was a clean, crisp, healthy salad that I ate for about 2 days.

Heaven on a plate!

I also added a picture of the kitchen that I got to cook in. Just needed to add a camera and I was ready for Food Network baby!

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