Ingredients:
- 1lb shrimp - 20-24 ct, peeled, deveined
- ½ green bell pepper, small dice
- 3 stalks celery, small dice
- ½ onion, small dice
- 1 cup, white wine
- 1 12oz jar, Wild Sol Mild Salsa
- 1 cup stone ground grits
- 4 cups milk, whole
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 tbs butter
- ½ cup shredded cheddar
- Salt
Instructions:
Season the shrimp with salt and set aside.
Add milk to grits in medium sauce pan; whisk for a few seconds. The chaff will float to the top, so use a small strainer or spoon to scoop off the surface. This will make your grits smoother. Do this a couple of times to fully remove. Once you are done, add the garlic. Turn the heat on to medium, whisking occasionally. If using high quality grits, this will take at least 15 minutes to cook. As it thickens you can add butter, salt and cheese. Once cooked and thickened, turn off heat.
In saute pan sweat the bell pepper, celery and onion with some oil and butter. At this point, you are simply trying to release some liquid and soften the vegetables. Add the jar of salsa and turn up the heat to medium high. Add another nob of butter and bring to a simmer. At this point you might start to develop some fond on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring until you see some brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Then add in your wine and using a wooden spoon, scrape it up. Keep simmering to cook off the alcohol and reduce the liquid. At this point you can either make a refined sauce with a bit more work, or keep it rustic. If you want rustic, leave it as is and we will pick up here later. If you want a refined sauce, keep reading.
Transfer the vegetable and salsa mixture into a blender and puree at high speed, dropping a couple cubes of cold butter into the mixture as it blends. You might need to add a little bit of water depending on how thick it is. Once it is smooth, push through a strainer, reserve the strained sauce and you can toss the strained vegetable matter.
Now for the shrimp. Heat large saute pan over medium high heat and add a couple glugs of avocado oil, and a knob of butter. Once the butter finishes foaming, add in the shrimp. They will tighten and curl as they cook. You want some color around the edges of the shrimp, but leave them be for 2 minutes, then flip and add in your sauce. It can be the rustic sauce or the refined sauce. When you do, toss in another couple knobs or cubes of cold butter and shake your pan. Keep on medium high heat, swirling your pan until the butter is melted and emulsified into your sauce. It should be creamy, with thick bubbles. Turn off the heat.
Spoon some grits into a bowl, add shrimp and sauce, and top with some herbs.
Glossary of terms:
Fond: a layer of caramelized sugar from cooked food that starts to form on the bottom of a pan. This is concentrated flavor, so use it! It can be released by a process called, de-glazing, usually with wine or spirits.
