Last weekend, we went to a good friend's house to watch Ole Miss play LSU. Darin and I both went to Ole Miss back in the early '90s, and he spent several years working at City Grocery in Oxford. Somewhere along the way, he basically picked up the equivalent of a culinary degree, so game day at his house is usually a pretty good eating experience.
This particular game had a little too much riding on it to open the festivities up to the entire neighborhood. IYKYK. So it was just Darin and his wife and me and mine. When he invited us over, he asked if we liked shrimp and grits. My wife loves shrimp and grits. Me? Not at all.
Despite spending almost my entire life south of the Mason-Dixon line, I've never been a fan of grits. But I figured Darin would make something good, my wife would love it, and I'd be so locked in on the game that it probably wouldn't matter anyway.
I was wrong. About the grits, at least.
What he served was awesome. Smoked Gouda grits loaded with shrimp, andouille sausage, mushrooms and spinach, all cooked together in one big pan and finished with fresh tomato and green onion. And there was garlic. A lot of garlic.
At some point, Darin's wife made a comment that since she started eating his cooking, she hasn't been attacked by a vampire. I told them I almost always double the amount of garlic called for in a recipe.
Darin looked at me and said, "Or triple it."
My kind of cooking.
I ate a huge bowl and seriously considered going back for more. Ultimately, I decided against it because I didn't want to eat so much that I was miserable. Watching this particular football game was already going to inflict enough suffering without adding any of the self-inflicted variety.
So, apparently, I like grits now. Or at least I like Darin's shrimp and grits.
I didn't get his recipe, but I watched enough of what he was doing—and asked enough questions—to have a pretty good idea of what went into it. So this is my attempt at recreating it.
Serves 4–6
Ingredients
For the Smoked Gouda Grits
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1 cup stone-ground grits
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2 cups chicken stock
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2 cups whole milk
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2 tablespoons unsalted butter
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4–5 oz smoked Gouda, freshly grated
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Kosher salt and black pepper, as needed
For the Shrimp & Andouille
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1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
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8 oz andouille sausage, sliced
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8 oz mushrooms, sliced
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6 cloves garlic, minced
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½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
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Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
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½ cup dry white wine
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¼–½ cup chicken stock, as needed
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1 tablespoon butter
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Olive oil, as needed
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2 generous handfuls baby spinach
For Finishing
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2 green onions, thinly sliced
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1 Roma tomato, seeded and finely diced
Instructions
1. Make the grits. Bring the chicken stock and milk to a gentle simmer. Slowly whisk in the grits and reduce the heat to low. Cook according to the package directions, stirring frequently, until tender and creamy. Stir in the butter and smoked Gouda until completely melted. Keep the grits slightly looser than you would normally serve them since they'll cook a little more when everything comes together. Cover and set aside.
2. Brown the andouille. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced andouille and cook until nicely browned and some of the fat has rendered. Remove the sausage and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pan.
3. Cook the mushrooms and garlic. Add the mushrooms to the same pan, adding a little olive oil if needed. Cook until they've released their moisture and developed some good color. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 30–60 seconds, just until fragrant.
4. Add the shrimp. Season the shrimp generously with Tony Chachere's. Add them to the pan and sauté for 1–2 minutes, tossing occasionally, until they're beginning to turn pink but aren't quite cooked through.
5. Deglaze with the wine. Pour in the white wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine simmer for 2–3 minutes and reduce slightly. Return the andouille to the pan and stir everything together.
6. Bring it all together. Reduce the heat to low and add the cooked smoked Gouda grits directly to the sauté pan. Fold everything together until the shrimp, sausage and mushrooms are distributed throughout. Add chicken stock a little at a time if needed to keep the mixture creamy and loose.
7. Add the spinach. Fold in the baby spinach and cook just until it wilts into the hot grits, about 1–2 minutes. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter. Taste before adding additional salt—the Tony Chachere's, andouille, Gouda and chicken stock are already bringing plenty.
8. Serve. Transfer everything to a large serving bowl. Scatter the finely diced tomato and sliced green onions over the top and serve immediately.
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