Saturday, September 17, 2011

A Northerner making a Southern meal


DB~ and I used to love going to a restaurant on the edge of Bellevue called Mojo Bistro. Sadly it closed last year as the owners wanted to go back to New Orleans. Every dish there was fantastic and the place was always packed, but they still closed anyway.

One of the best dishes we had there were Shrimp and Grits. The grits were cheesy and had a hint of bacon flavoring. We sort of had a hankering for grits, so I thought to give it a shot making them.

I have a huge bag of yellow corn meal in the pantry, so I thought I could make the grits out of those and give a little additional flavor. I mixed 1 cup of corn meal in 1 cup of cold milk. Once they started to set, I added 1 cup of water to the sauce pan and heated them up for 5-10 minutes. I sauteed the shrimp with some Luzienne's Cajun Seasoning sprinkled on top and placed them on top of the grits. When the grits were ready to be topped, I added some honey to them for a sweet flavor addition.

The two sides were fried tomato slices -- yes, I did think of Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy from Fried Green Tomatoes...I didn't sleep well that night -- that I made by dredging them in flour, dipping them in egg, and then breading them in seasoned bread crumbs (oregano, salt, pepper).

The second side was Red Swiss Chard sauteed in onions and garlic and olive oil. Once the chard wilted down and was ready to be served, I sprinkled romano cheese on top.

All in all, it wasn't as good as Mojo Bistro, but it was still a pretty great meal.

1 comment:

  1. It was a great meal! Thanks for trying something new! ~

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