Party Time, Excellent

This past weekend I was busy putting together a menu for my lovely sister's 27th birthday. Since I was a little short on dough for a really fancy, expensive dinner and Andre isn't much into loud, birthday bar crawls, I thought the best way to celebrate her 27 years of existence would be to compile a birthday feast that would highlight some of her favorite foods. While Andre does not have celiac disease, she very sweetly will eat all of my gluten free creations. If you ever have doubts that gluten free cooking can be delicious, just give her a call. She's one of my greatest gluten free champions and has been such a good sport at trying all my various creations. So thank you Andre!

Now as luck would have it, poor little Andre was sick this weekend. I blame this on the see-sawing phenomenon that we now call the weather. 80 degrees one day, 55 the next. So cruel Mother Nature, so cruel.  Since the birthday girl spent most of the weekend napping and could barely taste or smell anything, I decided to abridge the 5 course menu I had planned and focus on a few apps, some soup, and the piece de resistance - dessert!

So for today's Party Time theme I'll first be focusing on these tantalizing One Bite Shrimp and Grits. Later this week.......Neapolitan Ice Cream Cupcakes!

One Bite Shrimp and Grits

When I started menu planning, I knew I had to incorporate Shrimp and Grits into the menu somehow. Not only has Shrimp and Grits really been making a comeback but it is one of the top five things that I make that Andre truly adores. So I attempted this "mini" version.  I called it one bite but I have to be honest - it ended 

up being quite the mouthful of grits. So it's totally excusable if you find you have to take a fork and knife to these suckers. You will need:

Mini muffin pan

3/4 c Grits

Evaporated Milk (12 oz can)

Water

1/2 cup shredded cheese

4 or 5 strips thick cut bacon

20-30 medium shrimps

Old Bay Seasoning

Grits

I like to buy the Quaker grits. They are cheap and convenient and cook up quite fast. Here's a little secret when making grits. Use 2 parts evaporated milk to 1 part water. Make sure you get evaporated milk and not sweetened condensed milk. I always confuse the two. (Sweetened condensed is super sweet and thick and would be disastrous in a savory dish like this one!) This makes them really creamy and then you don't have to load them up with too much cheese.  

Combine 1 cup water and 2 cups evaporated milk in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add grits and reduce head to medium so that grits are simmering not boiling.  Start whisking and keep whisking until grits starts to gain some heft. When they start pulling away from the sides of the pan (3-5 minutes) remove from heat and add some shredded cheese (1/2 cup) and pepper. Salt to taste.  Using two small spoons (like you would for cookie dough) scoop grits into mini muffin pan and let set for 30 minutes. Once they have completely cooled, remove from pan and set aside. 

Shrimps

Peel shrimps and set into bowl. Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil (1 T) onto shrimps. Sprinkle on Old Baby Seasoning liberally - make sure shrimps are coated and then massage spice into them. Old Spice has a really kick to it, so be liberal but don't go nuts. 

Cut bacon into chunks and crisp in skillet. Remove with slotted spoon and place on plate covered with paper towel. Pour out all but 1 T of bacon grease. 

Reheat pan with one T grease and add shrimp. Cook until pink and cooked through 3 minutes or so. Remove from heat. Once cooled, lay shrimps flat and cut in half so you have two flat pieces per one shrimp.

Reheat your grit cups in 300 degree oven for a few minutes to warm through.  Remove from oven and top with one flat piece of shrimp and one shard of bacon. 

I thought these came out excellent and Andre did too. We polished off almost 10 each! Hey, let's remember  - this was basically our dinner....plus about 3 other things! From these pictures, you can tell I add a little sauce with red peppers. I wasn't too thrilled with it.  I didn't think it added anything and it added an extra step, no I nixed it from this recipe. I think the Old Bay is all the season you need for these.

So have a party, make some one bite shrimp and grits, and invite me over!

Next post, I conquer the uncharted territory (at least for me) of ice cream cupcakes!