Cooking with Beautifully Complex: Shrimp n' Grits

I have Mr. Mixologist to thank for exposing me to the low country delight that is Shrimp n' Grits.  He has made it for me on numerous occasions and when dining out, I always like to try it to see and taste the different variations of this dish.  At my birthday dinner, I ordered it and enjoyed it so much that I promised myself that I was going to try my hand at making it myself just to see how it would come out. There are several recipes online but I settled on one & then just tweaked it a little bit to my liking.

Shrimp n' Grits Recipe 

Chopped Bell Pepper

I made two slight changes to this recipe.

First, I added 1/2 cup of diced bell pepper because I saw this in
other recipes & I like the texture and taste.

Oh & some people call what I call green onions, "scallions". FYI

Chopped Green Onions

Fried Bacon ! 

I rarely eat regular bacon these days, but I wanted to stick to the recipe. 

I love my turkey bacon but I must say this pork was good ! LOL

Chopped Bacon 

Grits Cookin' 

A second change I made was......
Instead of 4 cups of water I cooked the grits with 1 cup of milk & 3 cups of water to make them just a little bit creamier.

Chopped Parsley 

Sauteed Shrimp & bell pepper

Now on to the shrimp .......
First I sauteed the bell pepper in the pan I cooked the bacon in. I poured out almost all of the bacon fat & just left a light film in the pan, then cooked the shrimp.

The rest of the veggies & bacon

Cheesy Grits ! 

Voila !

Excuse the presentation but I was hungry & an anxious to try it. LOL

The finished product 

The one thing I would do differently next time is to make a bit of gravy for the shrimp mixture. Mr. Mixologist knows how to make gravy, but I really don't. Mine always comes out tasting pasty. There are several recipes that add cream or milk to the shrimp mixture & next time, I may try one of those, but overall this was a good recipe and tasted pretty darn good.


Have you ever had Shrimp n' Grits ?

Have you tried any new recipes lately ?

Beautifully Complex 

Weekend Wrap Up..... in Pictures

I went out this past weekend to hear some live music with my girlfriend. One of my favorites saxophonists Kyle Turner was featured. He played at Phil & Derek's restaurant and wine bar. It was a nice crowd, great music as always.

My friend "Golden"

After a couple of glasses of vino !

Kyle Turner

Blow that sexy saxophone !











Saturday I went with Mr. Mixologist on a car buying trip for one of his friends. I have never seen a Mercedes with suicide doors but low and behold there is such a thing .....

Sunday my friend and her daughters went to church with us. Service was good and what I needed to hear. I have been praying all weekend for one of my favorite bloggers who is dealing with a huge loss.  After getting word of the situation Saturday morning, I was simply at a loss for words. Please continue to pray for their family.

Also it was Baccalaureate Sunday so it is always good to see all of the fresh new high school and college graduates in their caps and gowns excited about the new paths ahead of them.

After church we all went to brunch at Cyclone Anaya's. The food was really good and the Mimosas were great !

"Golden" and her girls

Me & Mr. Mixologist

How was your weekend ?

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?

Beautifully Complex