Thyme for some shrimp and grits!

We don't indulge in heavy food often, but some days the craving for a good heavy meal is in order. After all we do live in the south, where everything is basically fried with butter, or the (disgusting) southern standard of Fried Butter. Not sure who thought of that one, but it is an actual thing in the south. There are plenty of southern favorites that my wife and I truly find appalling. However, there is one that she REALLY loves, besides her beloved ranch. Shrimp and grits, she loves it so much it was a MUST at our wedding. It is also a staple in our home for holidays, mostly Easter and sometimes it makes an appearance at Christmas.

Shrimp and grits has an interesting biography. It became popular around the 1980's but there is a lot of history behind one of the main ingredient's - the GRIT'S. Did you know that grits were very common food item of the Native Americans who resided in the southeastern woodlands? They would gather corn found in the marshy woodlands and grind them up into a gritty paste which is know known as grits. This method of processing was passed down through generations and there are even writings from the Gullah Geechee (descendants of slaves from West Africa) of recipes similar to shrimp and grits. We would like to thank the Native Americans for discovering such an important ingredient to a Southern staple.

Ingredients

1 cup of yellow grits

4 cups of water

1/2 cup of almond milk (if you want a more creamy base you can substitue heavy whipping cream/milk)

2 cups of cheese

2 tbs butter or oil

2 cups of sliced turkey sausage

1 lb of deveined shrimp

1 tbs salt

1 tbs black pepper

4-5 garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup of thyme leaves

The Process

1) The first thing to do is to bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling add the grits, reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. After the five minutes add the cheese, milk, salt and pepper, mix and set it aside in a medium bowl.

2) Now put another saute pan on medium heat and add the butter, garlic and thyme. Cooking for roughly 5 minutes. Once the garlic and thyme are cooked add the sausage and shrimp together and cook until the shrimp are pink and remove from the pan, continuing to cook the sausage until browned.

3) After the sausage is browned add the mixture to the

cheese grits and then top with the shrimp. You can put what ever garnish you prefer we like the minced green onion or red pepper flakes.