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Shrimp and Grits

The taste of the South was calling today.  It was another dreary, wet Spring day so a spicy dish to liven things up around here was just what the doctor ordered.  But besides shrimp, I added a few more items to spice it up a bit.  This recipe is a take on an old fashioned recipe my mom use to make called polish sausage casserole...only Southern style!  I actually like grits.  They're pretty bland but we ate them for breakfast with cheese and Worcestershire sauce with our breakfast chops when we lived in Iowa.  Not that Iowa is the South, but I'm not sure why we ate grits in Iowa.  People also ate biscuits & gravy but I've never been able to get into that.  We also ate side pork for breakfast which is uncured bacon   Interesting.  Lots of pork in Iowa!  I did eat grits last year when we traveled to Augusta, Georgia, Savannah and Charleston, South Carolina and I love Southern cooking.  So try this recipe and enjoy.


Serves 4

4 Tbsp. butter
1 cup grits
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pound kielbasa, thinly sliced
4 oz. ham, cut into strips
8 sea scallops
12 medium shrimp, deveined
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 pinch cajun seasoning

1.  In a heavy saucepan, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  Add 1 Tbsp butter and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Stir in the grits.  Lower the heat, cover and simmer, stirring frequently until tender, about 1 hour.  Stir in the cream and 1 Tbsp. butter.

2.  Meanwhile, in  skillet, heat 1-1/2 tsp. butter over medium-high heat.  Add the kielbasa and ham and cook until golden, 3 minutes; transfer to a plate.  Melt 1-1/2 tsp. butter in the skillet, add half the scallops and shrimp and cook, turning once, for 3 minutes; transfer to the plate.  Repeat with 1-1/2 tsp. butter and the remaining scallops and shrimp.

3.  Add the remaining 1-1/2 tsp. butter to the skillet.  Add the tomatoes, garlic, scallions, cajun seasoning and 1/4 cup water and cook until softened.  Stir in the reserved seafood and meat and cook until heated through, season with salt and pepper.  Serve the grits topped with the seafood-meat mixture.

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