There are many different recipes for making shrimp and grits. This one appeals to me as the shrimp is sautéed in bacon fat and cheese is added to the grits to make them extra creamy. I bought my grits on-line from Palmetto Farms which is located in South Carolina. They are a stone ground grist mill that specializes in all natural, non-GMO grits, cornmeal, aromatic rice, and cornbread. If you can’t find stone ground grits, you can always use an equal amount of corn meal or any dried ground corn. What is also nice about this meal is that it is gluten free!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lay the bacon on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes until brown and crispy. Drain the bacon on paper towels and crumble.
Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in a medium sized frying pan and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, bring chicken stock, water and ½ teaspoon of salt to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the grits.
Simmer and stir often with a whisk until the grits have absorbed all the moisture and are tender. Stir in the butter and cheese and season with pepper. Cover and turn off the heat. In a bowl, season the shrimp with the oregano and paprika.
In the frying pan with the bacon grease, set the temperature to medium heat. Sauté the green onions and garlic for a couple minutes. Then add the shrimp stirring occasionally until the shrimp are pink and cooked through. This will be about 4 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice.
Plate the grits and then overlay with the shrimp. Garnish with the crumbled bacon. I like to serve this with a green salad. This serves 6.
