USVI-On-Line

Thanks to Liamsaunt for posting the pic of her shrimp and grits and to Nothingtolose for the website for Nawlins spices, as it got my butt in gear and made me want some.

On Tuesday night I made cheese grits and shrimp. In a big flat pasta bowl that I have, I put the shrimp in, and sprinkled with red pepper flakes, lemon pepper, paprika, brown sugar, olive oil, some Chinese hot sauce, thyme, honey, minced onion and minced garlic. I let them sit for about an hour. I then quickly sauteed the shrimp. It was the perfect blend of hot vs sweet. Loved it!!

I put the grits in a bowl and put the shrimp on top. And man, oh man, were they ever good!! We will have this often!!

I don't have a pic this time because we didn't eat until 7 PM and that was my first morsel of food all day long except for 5 Necco candy chips. But I will take a picture the next time and post it.

Thanks again!!

Coden - that sounds awesome! Wish there was a pic but I understand because I end up doing the same thing all the time.

nothintolose

GRITS = Girls Raised In The South

Grits are awesome! CaliforniaGirl - remind me to take you to Zea's when you are here, you'll change your mind. Their corn grits are AWESOME!

Sounds yummy, Coden. I'm going to get around to that recipe soon, too.

Grits is good eatin', suthun' comfort food! I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and am making grits dressing. Haven't met a grit I didn't like, yet.

Thanks Pjayer, it was yummy. I love grits, too. And agree that they are a comfort food!

Hey, whenever you get a chance, would you slide me the recipe for your grit dressing? Always looking for a new recipe. And now that we have a member of our family who has to eat gluten free we are looking for all kinds of new recipes. Ha!

Happy Turkey Day weekend!!!

Gluten free??? My hubby has celiac disease, so that's why I picked it. I'll get it to you asap. I have other recipes, too. Waiting to eat turkey now with rest of family. Just taking a quick break to check things out in VIOL-land.

Wow pjayer! I am so sorry for your hubby about Celiac. My brother-in-law, and all of us, just learned about Celiac this past summer, and once he did he removed himself from all wheat, rye, and barley - before he was tested -and is a Totally New Man. Of course, once he was tested he tested negative for the disease because he had already removed all gluten from his diet, but supposedly the test showed that he has the genetic make-up for Celiac.

He had gotten to the point of hardly being able to even get out of bed. His digestion was a mess, and had been all of his life, and he is now a very happy, and very active, man. Just since this summer has he gone gluten free and I am so happy for him. We took flour out of everything for him this year, I even made a rice crueton dressing for him.

I look forward to that recipe whenever you get a chance, no rush, but it will be nice to try it.

Okay, Coden, Being from MD I get the grits,[when God made me a Yankee he was only kidding], but the 5 Necco wafers for the whole lunch and breakfast must be a deep south thing! We lean more towards grits in the morning up here in the border states.

JT Nah, it's not a deep south thing at all. It's a Coden got so busy cleaning and dealing with our rental property and utilities, etc...that I just forgot to eat and before I knew it, it was time for dinner. I was quite hungry too. Famished is the correct word!!!

Hi Coden. I know what you mean about how sick people can get with celiac disease. My husband suffered several years before his diagnosis. He's 6'3" and had lost about 40 pounds, so it was scary. Thankfully, we finally found a doctor who knew what was wrong.

Here's the grits dressing recipe. I also made it without the sausage and substituted veggie broth for the chicken broth for my vegan daughter, and it must have been good because there were no leftovers.

You can make the croutons and brown the sausage a day in advance.

3 (10 1/2 oz.) cans condensed chicken broth, undiluted. (You have to check the containers, because a lot of broths have wheat. I buy Pacific brand at Kroger in 32 oz. boxes that says "Gluten Free" on the side.)
1 1/4 cups uncooked quick-cooking grits
3/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
1 lb. ground hot pork sausage
5 celery ribs with leaves, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tbsp.)
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsely

1. Bring broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in grits, and return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 7 minutes or until grits are thickened, stirring twice. Stir in cheese. Remove from heat.
2. Spoon grits into a greased 13" x 9" baking dish. Cover and chill until firm. Unmold onto a large cutting board, sliding knife or spatula under grits to loosen them from dish. Cut grits into 3/4" cubes. Place in a single layer on a large greased baking sheet or jelly-roll pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes; turn grits, and bake 10 to 12 more minutes or until crisp and browned.
3. Meanwhile, cook sausage in a large skillet, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain.
4. Saute celery, garlic, and onion in butter 5 minutes or until tender. Stir together onion mixture, sausage, and grits croutons, tossing gently. Drizzle egg over mixture; add parsley, stirring gently. Spoon dressing loosely into a greased 11" x 7" baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes or until browned.

Makes 8 servings.

Here's a good, easy cookie recipe.

Flourless Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate morsels

1. Stir together first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, using a wooden spoon. Stir in chocolate morsels.
2. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until puffed and golden. (Cookies will be soft in the center.) Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack.

These are so good, it's hard to believe they don't have flour.

Thank you so much, Pjayer. I appreciate you passing the recipes on to me. I will try the grits dressing in a few weeks when we have a spiral cut ham. And the cookies for dessert.

I wish your husband well with the Celiac. The good thing with the disease is that once the culprit "gluten" is removed, the patient starts to heal immediately. Wouldn't it be grand if all diseases reacted in this manner?

Happy Saturday!!!

The shrimp and grits sounds delicious; except I have no idea how grits taste

20 years ago you could not even find grits in a grocery store up here (I know because a co-worker moved up from Virginia and her mom had to send her care packages); however, I noticed them in the hot cereal aisle the other day at Stop&Shop.

I lived in the south for about 6 years, but never gave them a try (fell in love with biscuits and gravy!)

So, are grits like oatmeal or cream of wheat or totally different? I'd really like to give this dish a shot -but might have to have some rice pilaf in the wings - just in case

Jayseadee - Grits are like cream of wheat. In texture anyway. The thing with grits though is that you can make both savory and sweet dishes with grits, versus cream of wheat, I only think about putting sugar, butter and milk in. I can't imagine eating cream of wheat like I do grits. Grits are more versatile.

thanks Coden - I'll give this a try after the holidays. I love Cream of Wheat, but can't handle the texture of oatmeal - so grits might be OK.