Shrimp 'n' grits, makeover edition

So, the moment has come. We have hit the Southern Cooking shelf. Recall the premiss of this blog: we are working our way through all the cookbooks we have, which are shelved on a baker's rack Katherine bought 18 months ago.

The book collection has expanded since then, principally on that second row of the rack:

The lower rows have been 'Evelyned'

But the basic idea remains: first, the general recipe/cooking books, then the books written by specific chefs, then cookbooks by region, culminating in the bottom row of Southern Cookbooks and all the wonderful issues of Cooks Illustrated that Judy gave me. Our last recipe was from Alton Brown's cookbook, which had been classed as being Southern because he is from the South. But really, today's book is the first of the strictly Southern ones. And what a success it was! Read on...

It's the Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook. Katherine had bought it for Judy, but then liked it so much she bought it for herself. A good example of the principle: always buy presents for someone that you yourself want! We had done a few recipes from the book before: their meatloaf (delicious with chopped pickle), and famous chicken bog. Our chicken bog was good, but not as good as Judy's: that was the first meal I ever had at Beaver Creek Drive, and it was very memorable. I had three helpings, prompting murmurings of 'Hey, Mikey!'.

Anyway, back to the book. Here it is:

The recipe itself spans three pages. Uh oh!

No wait, FOUR pages!

First, shell the shrimp. Boring!

Make some shrimp boil:

Add to shells to make the stock:

Meanwhile, assemble the grits:

Yes, there is something else in this picture other than the grits.

'Stir grits into a bowl of cold water and allow to settle':

'Corn hulls may float to the surface'.

Then cook the grits with milk, nice and slow:

Meanwhile (there are a lot of 'meanwhile's in this recipe), take some tomatillos:

Blacken them under the broiler, and blend, adding jalapeno:

OK, they're not that black.

That's better.

Press through a food mill, and you have an amazing flavour enhancing pulp:

Meanwhile, fry some bacon!

Now you're talking!

Chop up onion and green pepper:

On the right: the shrimp broth.

Fry the aromatics in the bacon fat:

But what about the bacon? Hmmm. What can one do with bacon bits? It's like when a recipe calls for part of a bottle of wine; the only thing you can do is throw the rest away - it's such a waste! But then Katherine had a brilliant idea: WE COULD PUT THE BACON BITS IN A SALAD!

Meanwhile, whisk together some flour with the shrimp broth to make a thickener:

Now for the final act. Mix the paste in with the vegetables, and add the broth:

Reduce down to a gloopy consistency:

Then add the shrimp:

Now that's looking good. But how do you make shrimp like this look even better? Answer, put them over grits:

Look at them glisten!

OK, so that was a complicated dish to make, but it was worth it. The tomatillo and jalapeño gravy was tangy and delightful, and went very well with the grits. It was 'classy' shrimp and grits. Dinner party material (but maybe not for really fancy dinner parties; it's hard to serve prettily).