True story: our next door neighbors (Scott & Tammy) came *this* close to buying our house before we did. Yep. The layout wasn’t quite right for them either though, so instead, they built an almost identical house on the lot to the left of ours. They added an extra bedroom downstairs, and fixed the funky master bathroom layout upstairs, and instead of a sunroom, they use that room as a dining room at their place. Here’s a photo of Tammy in her kitchen:
Her kitchen layout is identical to ours, and I had so much fun hanging out with her over there while she cooked this week!
She made her famous cajun shrimp and grits recipe, and I photographed the whole thing so that we could share it with you today!
First up, Tammy made the grits. To make them, she combined grits, butter, salt, water, heavy cream, four different kinds of cheese, and white pepper.
Mmmm…four cheeses… 🙂
After that, she made the cajun shrimp by combining fresh jumbo shrimp, smoked sausage, fresh parsley, diced tomatoes & chilies, minced garlic, cajun seasoning and olive oil:
Man was my mouth was watering while she was plating it up for my final photo!
Tammy owns a catering business called A Catered Affair, and Kevin and I LOVE it when they fire up their BBQ grill out back. Makes the whole block smell so good! Now if only we could learn to cook and grill like them, too- ha!
I think her shrimp and grits recipe is a good place for us to start, and if you’d like to try it too, just print out the recipe card below:
Ingredients
- Grits:
- 1 cup grits
- 3 cups water
- 1 TBS salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1-1/2 cups cheese: cheddar, smoked gouda, pepper jack, parmesan
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp white pepper
- Cajun shrimp:
- 1-1/2 lbs fresh jumbo shrimp
- 1 cup sliced smoked sausage, (I used Conecuh sausage)
- 2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
- 1 cup diced tomatoes & chilies, drained (I used Rotel tomatoes)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 TBS cajun seasoning
- Olive oil
Instructions
- Grits:
- Boil 3 cups water & salt.
- Add grits & butter.
- Simmer on low for 10 minutes or until thickened.
- Add heavy cream & cheeses.
- Whisk until blended.
- Add extra salt, if needed.
- Shrimp:
- Peel, de-vein, & take tail off shrimp.
- Heat olive oil in stainless steel wok or skillet.
- Add shrimp, sausage & parsley.
- Cook until shrimp is pink.
- Add garlic and tomatoes.
- Cook until heated.
- Add cajun seasoning.
- To serve:
- Pour cheese grits onto the center of a plate.
- Add cajun shrimp on top of the grits.
- Garnish with parsley sprigs.
- (Sauvignon Blanc wine makes a nice companion to this dish.)
Good luck, and happy cookin’!
PS- Tammy said this recipe makes 4 servings, and that you could leave off the cajun seasoning if you want to tone it down a little. 🙂