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Browsing Tag: South
Earlier this spring, my mom visited me in NOLA while she was on Spring Break. We had so much fun running around and doing the best tourist-y things that New Orleans and the South has to offer! Oysters at Superior Seafood, Mint Juleps at Oak Alley, and pour-overs at Hi Volt coffee. Don’t tell me you’re surprised that all of the highlights involved food!
Though my vacations – and vacation plans for other people – are notoriously “Type A” and ridiculously packed, I did let mom take a night off for a chill day. We cooked together (less than a dozen angry words! A new record!) and recreated this recipe that my northerner mother makes frequently at home.So, yes, this is a total “cheater” recipe , and not authentically Cajun, but it is still seriously delicious and can be made in any place in the world!
I made a few modifications to up the healthiness and creaminess. Note of caution – I use “healthy” in the terms of low-carb dieting. There are very few carbs in here (cut out the bell pepper and onion if you’re keto or severely low-carb), but there is a lot of tasty fat in the cheese. If you’re not worried about carbs, pop these shrimps over pasta or rice for a filling meal!
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Step One.
Measure out your ingredients. Prepare your shrimp (remove the tails and de-vein if necessary, depending on what you bought). Chop up the bell peppers to the desired size. I gave them a rough chop so that each bite would deliver a big burst of fresh flavor. Coat the shrimp with the Cajun seasoning. Cut the cream cheese into small cubes (about ten).
Step Two.
Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and bell peppers; saute for about ten minutes, until the onion is translucent.
Pro Tip: Saute the vegetables over medium-low heat so that they soak up the butter and cook evenly. Even though it takes longer, this will keep the butter and the vegetables from burning!
Step Three.
Toss in the shrimp, and cook them, stirring around, for about 8 minutes, or until cooked through. Add the spinach, and continue to stir until it is wilted.
Step Four.
Pour the cream into the pan; add the cream cheese. Let this mix heat up for about two minutes, then stir it together until it is mixed evenly. Finally, sprinkle the parmesan on top. Let it heat up again, and then carefully stir until it is melted and incorporated throughout. Serve and enjoy!
This easy shrimp recipe is a quick fix for a protein-filled weeknight dinner with the taste of Louisiana!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 onion
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1/2 green bell pepper
- 1 lb Louisiana shrimp
- 3 Tbsp Cajun Seasoning
- 3 cups spinach
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Measure out your ingredients. Prepare your shrimp (remove the tails and de-vein if necessary, depending on what you bought). Chop up the bell peppers to the desired size. I gave them a rough chop so that each bite would deliver a big burst of fresh flavor. Coat the shrimp with the Cajun seasoning. Cut the cream cheese into small cubes (about ten).
- Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and bell peppers; saute for about ten minutes, until the onion is translucent.
- Toss in the shrimp, and cook them, stirring around, for about 8 minutes, or until cooked through. Add the spinach, and continue to stir until it is wilted.
- Pour the cream into the pan; add the cream cheese. Let this mix heat up for about two minutes, then stir it together until it is mixed evenly. Finally, sprinkle the parmesan on top. Let it heat up again, and then carefully stir until it is melted and incorporated throughout. Serve and enjoy!
When I started my first year of college, my daddy flew down with me to help me move into my dorm room and provide a familiar buffer against all of the unknowns. Well, that and to get more free checked baggage…
The night before the big “move -in” day, we stayed in a nice downtown hotel. In the morning, we headed down to the continental breakfast to fuel up before lugging duffel bags and suitcases up 11 flights of stairs.
I remember several snapshots from that morning.
It’s silly how memory works: I know exactly what I wore – short jean shorts with an army green tank top and a short sleeve beige cardigan, with a wooden headband holding back my new haircut. I remember putting so much effort to pick the perfect outfit simply to sweat in… but joking aside, I didn’t want my new roommate to think I was lame.
I remember there being a lot of options for a hotel breakfast. Sure, they had cereal and yogurt and a waffle iron… in fact, no matter how good of a cook I ever will be, no waffle will top a hotel waffle. There is something about the beeping that made me so nervous when I was kid, the sheer joy of being able to have a waffle just because I wanted one, and the anticipation to go on to wherever the hotel was a detour from… the nostalgia is better than any recipe.
But again, I digress. Aside from what you might expect, they had eggs and bacon and sausage and…. lumpy grey stuff. The label said grits.
I had heard of these. Deep South grits that for some reason people seemed to enjoy even though the name was inherently unappetizing. But hey, if I was going to make it in the South, I was going to like grits. Here goes bite one as this new Southern Belle. Watch out, Scarlett.
I think I spit it into my napkin.
From that moment, I decided grits were nasty. My later experience in the university dining hall confirmed this conviction. But eventually, when I was talking to a nice Southern man, he told me that I only despised them so much because I never had them the right way. And boy, was he right.
Now I’m in love…
Cheese grits, plain grits, shrimp ’n grits. I love them all. So of course I had to learn to make them.
This is my favorite recipe for my Southern brunch. They are velvety and tangy; they go well with shrimp or just on their own.
I assure you, these won’t end up in a napkin.
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Step One.
Prep Step! Get your grits ingredients ready. No rush on the shrimp part – you have time while the grits cool. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Step Two.
Bring the milk, butter, and water to boil over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Add the grits, whisking them in. For you northerners out there, don’t just dump the grits in. They will clump. Bad.
Step Three.
Cover it, stick it in the oven, and bake, bake, bake. They’ll stay in there about 20 – 30 minutes. But you have to take them out about halfway through to add some wine, so pay attention. Halfway through, stir in the wine, and return it to the oven.
Step Four.
More Prep! Get all that shrimp stuff ready. Chop, chop!
Step Five.
Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots and sauté for two to three minutes. Dump in the peppers and tomatoes, and sauté for another four minutes. Now, deglaze the pan with the wine and lemon juice.
What is this “deglazing” business?
Deglazing happens when you add a cold liquid to a very hot pan or pot- it releases the little brown, tasty bits from the bottom of the pan and adds them to the sauce. Om nom.
Step Six.
Add those shrimp and continue to cook until the shrimp are just done – they should be pink.
Step Seven.
Take the grits out – add the cheeses. Plate and add the shrimp – serve!
Another Southern Classic! The cheeses and wine zest it up!
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup quick- cooking grits
- longish pour white wine - about 1/3 cup
- 2 oz shredded parmesan
- 2 oz crumbled goat cheese
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 14 shrimp, peeled and deveined
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prep Step! Measure everything out for the grits and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bring the butter, milk, and water to a boil over medium heat in a cast iron pot. SLOWLY add the grits, and whisk so that there are no clumps.
- Put the grits in the oven - bake for 25 - 30 minutes. At 15 minutes, pull it out to stir in the white wine. ((The cheese step is at the end of the recipe))
- Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots and sauté for two to three minutes.
- Add the peppers and tomatoes, and sauté for another four minutes. Now, deglaze the pan with the wine and lemon juice.
- Add the shrimp to the pan and continue to cook until the shrimp are just done - they should be pink.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Remove the grits from the oven and stir in the cheeses. Plate, top with shrimp, and serve!
Brunch is the best meal of the day. Period.
You can go sweet, you can go savory. You can go both. You can have appetizers, you can have desserts. You can drink with no one judging you. What could be better?
I first tried biscuits and gravy at one of my favorite brunch spots. But what could be better than homemade? Being from the north, I was very confused about the whole gravy thing. I mean, is it necessary to put carbs on your carbs? One bite of this and the answer is “hell, yea!”
The first time I made gravy, I missed the part about adding the milk slowly. Womp womp. Flop. I ended up with a milky mess. Take two was much better. And it was carby heaven that sent me off to nap time dreams of fluffy and creamy goodness.
Biscuits and gravy is a classic, and this is a simple yet tasty rendition. Be careful with the milk!
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First, make the biscuits.
Step One
Prep Step! Measure out all of your ingredients.
Step Two
Mix your dry ingredients. Then, using SUPER cold butter, cut the butter into the flour mix with a pastry cutter (or use your fingers, but be careful because they’re warm).
Step Three
Mix in the buttermilk, form your biscuits, and pop ’em in the oven.
Now, make the gravy
Step One
Prep Step! Lay out all of your ingredients, and set a pan over medium heat.
Step Two
Add your sausage to the pan. I like to do it in one big lump and then break it up as I go. This ensures that I never get too small of pieces. As a serious sausage lover, the bigger the better!
Step Three
Now add your flour. Stir it around until the flour coats the sausage. You’re ready for the milk!
Step Four
Add you milk SLOWLY, whisking it in as you go. Once it’s all in, whisk it around a bit more and let it cook until it is a good consistency.
Step Five
Turn your heat down to low for the gravy and start your eggs. Serve it up!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (280 g)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick) COLD! (113 g) (4 oz)
- 1 cup buttermilk, COLD! (8 oz) (236 mL)
- 1 lb bulk pork sausage
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (47 g)
- 2 1/2 c whole milk (12 oz)
- salt
- pepper
- hot sauce
Instructions
- Prep Step! Measure out your dry ingredients, cut the butter into small cubes (cut a 3 x 3 grid in the stick, so that you get small cubes), and measure out the buttermilk. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the dry ingredients together with a fork in a large bowl.
- Cut in your butter (SUPER COLD!) with a pastry cutter, or work quickly with your fingers so that the butter does not heat up. Do this until the mixture is in fine crumbles.
- Slowly, add you milk as you stir with a fork until you have a dough.
- If you are making round biscuits, pat the dough out into a circle that is about 1/2 inch tall. Using a biscuit cutter or a glass dipped in water (to prevent sticking) cut those biscuits. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- If you are making drop biscuits, pull off lumps that are about 1/3 cup in size, and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 400°F for 14 - 16 minutes, depending on your oven. Get ready to make the gravy!
- Prep Step! Set a large pan (that you can whisk in) over medium heat. Measure out your flour and milk and set them by the stove. Have your salt, pepper, and hot sauce ready to go.
- Dump all that sausage in. I like to add it as a whole and break it up with a spoon once it's sizzling - this keeps the chunks of sausage nice a big!
- Once the sausage is cooked, dust the flour over and stir until it coats the sausage.
- SLOWLY add you milk, whisking well as you go. Drizzle a little, stop and whisk more,
- do this until it's all in!
- Add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to your liking.
- Once the biscuits are done, break open a biscuit on each plate. Top with gravy. Add a fried or poached egg if you like. Dig in!
Notes
© Adventures of a Frostaholic
