Recipe for bacon-wrapped, cheese-stuffed shrimp & green chile grits

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This isn't your standard Southern shrimp & grits. This recipe takes shrimp and grits to a completely different level because it's Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Hatch Green Chile Cheese Grits. With bacon, shrimp, cheese, corn and roasted chiles how can you possibly go wrong? You can't. If you never liked shrimp and grits before it's because you never tried it this way.

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Step-by-step instructions here

The Gourmandize Team

  • 3
  • Average
  • Average budget

Ingredients

  • For the Shrimp:
  • 1 lb. deveined Shrimp (15 & under count - peel & butterfly)
  • 1/2 lb. Asiago cheese
  • 1 lb. par-cooked bacon
  • For the grits:
  • 1.5 cup Regular Grits (NOT instant or quick grits)
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 5.25 cups water
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1.5 cups roasted & minced Hatch green chile (equals 1.3 lbs raw chiles but you still have to roast them)
  • 1 cup Manchego cheese
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp crushed Mexican oregano

Preparation

Step 1

Grits take the longest time to cook and hold better so make the grits FIRST.
Pour water and heavy cream into a large pot. Add salt and bring to a boil. Add grits to boiling liquid and decrease heat to low.

Step 2

Add oregano and cumin.

Step 3

Allow to cook on low heat for 30 – 40 minutes until grits become smooth and tender stirring frequently, roughly every 3 minutes until it begins to thicken and then the frequency increases. When grits are creamy, smooth and tender add Hatch green chiles.

Step 4

Stir to incorporate and add 2 Tbsp unsalted butter.

Step 5

Again, stir to incorporate and add 1 cup Manchego cheese and 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated. Stir to incorporate and melt cheese. Remove from heat, and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Cover and set aside until ready to serve.

Step 6

Now, prepare the shrimp and slice Asiago cheese into strips to fit inside the butterflied shrimp.

Step 7

Using a microwave, par-cook enough bacon to wrap around the shrimp. It will take 2/3 slice per shrimp, so you will have leftover scraps but that's OK because bacon is always good in anything. You want to par cook the bacon because it takes longer to cook the bacon than it does the shrimp. Without par cooking 1) the shrimp is overdone and chewy; or 2) the bacon is underdone.

Step 8

Place a strip of Asiago cheese in each shrimp and wrap with bacon. Heat a large heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. When hot add shrimp with loose end of bacon on bottom. This keeps the bacon from coming unwrapped.

Step 9

Cook 2 minutes to brown and crisp bacon and turn over. Cook another 2 minutes and remove from pan to a paper towel to drain. Remember, residual heat will continue to cook the shrimp so you want to move fast to plating once the shrimp is done.

Step 10

To plate, put 1 – 2 ladles of grits into middle of dinner plate and rotate to spread grits around the plate. Take 5 shrimp and arrange on the plate. Sprinkle chives over top.

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