Cocktail Sauce

There are some things I just won't buy. Like I have to make it myself because I've convinced my crazy brain that there's no way storebought even comes close. Obviously mayonnaise does not fall into this category. We all know I love my Duke's. These things do include poundcake, pimento cheese, and cocktail sauce. Boiled shrimp and cocktail sauce are a mainstay at our tailgates and family gatherings. Sometimes we swap out the shrimp for crab meat and pour it over cream cheese. It's the business.

Instgrammin': Late Summer Edition

It seems like every September I catch a little cold. Not a knock-down-seeing-stars flu, just a cold that's inconvenient enough to sap all my energy and give me a low-grade fever. It's not a time when people like you to handle their food. I'm in recovery mode with plans for a pumpkin bender, but until then, here's a glance at the past month or so.

This is the face of disobedience. It's a sweet face to be sure, but mercy this dog doesn't listen!

Farm-fresh eggs come in pretty colors and taste phenomenal, too.

I think he's silently communicating "I don't take pictures of you while you eat."

Shrimp, Grape Tomato, & Artichoke Fettuccine

This one time, I was driving down the road with my windows down and Carrie Underwood on my radio. It was one of the first really pretty spring days we'd had, warm air and a little breeze. I was wearing a sundress and big sunglasses. I was also singing louder than Carrie, which I didn't realize was possible. I was at a stoplight and was just finishing up "Cowboy Casanova" when I noticed a young boy hanging out of the back of a truck cab and fervently applauding my performance. I blushed. And I laughed because I earned that applause! I...have no shame it would appear.

Get your face in this pasta. It's one of those 30 minute, weeknight-friendly dinners. It's full of things I lurve, like shrimp and artichokes and capers. Get to it!

Barbecue Shrimp

One of my absolute favorite dinners is this barbecue shrimp. It's perfect for eating outside on a screen porch with plenty of paper towels and cold adult beverages. In fact, this was the first meal my brother-in-law ate with my family. Which in retrospect was a little...mean. It's hard to be charming and graceful sucking juice out of a shrimp shell. That's kind of mandatory too. You can't just peel the shells and eat the shrimp. First, you suck the juice out of the shell, then you peel it, then you dip it back in the sauce and eat. The leftover sauce on the plate gets sopped up with buttery french bread.

Shrimp Scampi Flatbread

 I feel like it took me a lot longer to get to writing this post than it should've.  Because this flatbread seriously takes about 10 minutes to make and 12 minutes to bake.  Aaaand I'm rhyming.  It's cool though. I've got a thunderstorm outside and a baby who is out cold.  Nap time is work time.

Let's talk about this flatbread.  It's everything I never knew I wanted.  A garlic-y butter sauce with local shrimp and fresh mozzarella.  I was really surprised by how much I liked it.  So let's get it started, k?

SC Shrimp Creole

This is a meal my family eats regularly.  Shrimp creole is thick and spicy and tomatoey.  I'll be honest.  I'm not even going to claim this is authentic because I have no idea if it is.  I've had shrimp creole exactly once in Louisiana, and I don't remember it that well.  BUT!  It has some of the most important elements of that style of cooking and rocks my world to boot.  So there.  Nanny-nanny boo boo.

Date Night

This weekend was all sorts of wacky and scrumptious, though not all at the same time.  Will and I had our big dinner at Saluda's Friday night, which we'll get to later.  When Will and I get together, we like to eat.  A lot.  It's one of our favorite activities.  That sounds rather gluttonous, doesn't it?  Perhaps I should say we enjoy the dinner experience with each other's company and good food.  Plus we have to make up for all those dates we don't get to go on.

We stayed with my sister a couple of nights this weekend and manage to see two small disasters while we were here.  Yesterday, the whole plumbing system decided to revolt and back up into the house.  Not fun.  Several towels were sacrificed before the plumber got here.  This morning, while I was relaxing in bed, I heard a crashing sound.  I thought the dogs had knocked something over but no.  The kitchen was intact.  Then I looked into the yard.  A tree fell on the fence.  What the what?  Rich has spent the afternoon repairing it.  Thankfully it doesn't look like it did major damage.  Just enough to be really inconvenient.

Saluda's is a casual upscale place (Don't you just love a good paradox?) that blends Lowcountry ingredients and style with more classic French and Italian techniques.  The decor is simple with white-clothed tables and antique-style chairs.  Forgive me if the lighting in my pictures isn't the best.  I didn't want to be that girl taking pictures in a dimly-lit restaurant with flash out the wazoo.  Can a wazoo flash?  I digress.

We started with what they called a sushi plate.

 

Tuna sashimi over soba noodles tossed with peanut sauce.  It was topped with a salmon crudo, which is sort of an Italian ceviche.  Basically raw fish, salmon in this instance, is dressed with olive oil, citrus, and salt.  This had black sea salt sprinkled over it.  I think that might be some kind of roe on top.  The chili sauce in the corner gave it a pleasant heat.  It was lovely way to start a meal.  Light and refreshing because heaven knows the rest of the meal wasn't.

I had the shrimp and grits because I've been fantasizing about them for weeks now.  For realz.  A bed of Adluh grits with Dubliner cheddar, roasted red peppers, pancetta, sauteed shrimp, a bourbon cream sauce, and as if that wasn't enough, a delicate fried green tomato perched atop.  The tomato had a nice tang (as good fried green 'maters should), which offset a little of the richness the overall dish had.  Adluh Flour is a local company that sells flour (duh), grits, and assorted mixes.  The grits come out luscious and creamy, and in this case the bourbon cream sauce didn't hurt one bit.  Nosiree.  Honestly, shrimp and grits is one of my favorite dishes, and I love when I find a good rendition of it.

Because I have a hard time resisting dessert, we ordered a slice of red velvet cake drizzled with a little caramel.  Will thought he'd just have a few bites, but we ended up finishing the whole thing.  It was moist with a good ratio of frosting to cake.  There's nothin' like a little cake to finish off a good meal.

I like getting dressed up and feelin' fancy, especially if it's a date with Will.  And especially if I get to eat food like that.  Any date night recommendations for the next time he and I see each other?

The Occasional Deep-fried Day

Y'know, some days you just want something fried.  Or everything fried, whichever floats your boat.  I try not to have too many days like that, but hey, everything in moderation.

We had some shrimp in the freezer, so I decided to beer batter it and fry it up.  And if you're going to fry shrimp you might as well fry some onions right?  So glad you agree.

And because this is the South, cheese grits are mandatory.  Specifically, smoked cheddar cheese grits.

I like to prep the veggies first.  It makes things go smoother down the road.

I used half of the onion for rings, and the other half got a rough dice for sautéing later.

Next up is a bell pepper.

I used an orange pepper, but you could easily use yellow, red, or green.

I cut it into thick strips for a nice bite.

For the batter...

You need a cup of all-purpose flour

Add in 3/4 tsp of baking powder

Next is 1/2 tsp salt

And a good crack of black pepper

Crack and egg into the bowl and pour in 3/4 c beer

I used Fat Tire.  I suggest drinking the leftovers.

Whisk it together until smooth and toss in some of the onion rings

Heat about 1/2" of oil in a pan or use a deep fryer if you have one.

Shake the excess batter off the onion rings and carefully put them in the oil.  Grease burns ain't no joke.

You definitely want to batter and fry the onions first because once the shrimp are in there there's no going back.  Shrimpy onion rings would be kinda weird...unless that's what you're going for.

Flip the rings over to get brown on both sides and drain on paper towels when they're nice and golden.  You definitely want to keep an eye on these.  Sprinkle a bit of salt on them while they're still hot so it'll stick.

About halfway through the onions, start melting a little knob of butter in a pan over medium heat

Add in the diced onions and bell pepper sticks after the butter has melted

Fry the shrimp in the same manner as the onion rings.  Shake off any excess batter and add the shrimp to the pan with great care.  You only need to do a few at a time so the oil doesn't cool too much.  That'll make your shrimpies greasy.  Ew.

Woo!  Drain them on paper towels like the onion rings.

While shrimp are frying, boil some water for the grits.  When the water reaches a rolling boil, add in the grits according to the package instructions.  Most will tell you the proper water-to-grits ratio.  Turn down the heat so the grits are just simmering and add in salt.  I wouldn't be too heavy handed with the salt since we're adding cheese in later, but it does need some salt now.  It's next to impossible to get the salt level right after the grits are done.

When the grits are just about done, add in your cheese.  I just shaved slices of smoked cheddar in there and stirred it around to melt it.  I used 3-4 oz of cheese.  I usually eyeball it and taste it until I think it's cheesy enough.  Don't be afraid to taste things and adjust to your liking.  Add in a bit of butter at the end for good measure.

When your peppers are almost done, splash a little white wine in the pan.

When it's all done, put it together like so:

Spoon some grits onto the plate and top with the bell pepper/onion mix.  A sprinkle of green onions adds a little pop of color.  Onion rings on the side complete it.

I wouldn't call this shrimp and grits, a dish best served in the Lowcountry.  There's no tasso ham involved.  It's more like shrimp with grits...and onion rings.  No matter, it's all yummy.  Definitely eat it while it's hot though.  Or scarf it down like I did.

Here's the easy to follow version:

Shrimp with Grits (serves 2)
Batter adapted from myrecipes.com

1 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 egg
3/4 c medium-bodied beer
1 onion, half sliced in rings and half large dice
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
1 bell pepper, cut into thick matchsticks
2 tbs butter, divided
Splash of white wine
Grits
Smoked cheddar cheese

• Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, egg, and beer in a large bowl.
• Heat 1/2" oil to 375º
• Add onion rings to batter and let soak a few minutes.  Shake excess batter off rings and add to hot oil a few at a time.  Don't overcrowd the pan.  Cook until golden brown and drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt.  Onion rings may be kept warm in a 200º oven.
• Heat 1 tbs butter in a small pan and add bell pepper and onions. Sauté until browned and add splash of white wine.
• Cook grits according to package directions.  Add cheese and remaining tablespoon of butter at the end.
• Add shrimp to remaining batter and cook in same manner as onions.
• Serve bell pepper and onions over grits and top with shrimp.  Onion rings are served on the side.