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1
Lightly butter or oil an 8-inch square pan.
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2
Dice the roasted pepper and set aside.
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3
Heat the water, milk, and salt in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat.
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4
Bring to a boil, then whisk in the grits and cook for 1 minute.
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5
Lower the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, 3040 minutes, until the grits have lost their raw taste and begin to hold together and pull away from the sides of the pan.
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6
Add a little water if the grits get too thick.
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7
Stir in the butter, roasted pepper, and cheese.
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8
Pour onto the prepared pan to a thickness of about 1/2 inch.
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9
Press plastic wrap directly on the surface of the grits and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, about 1 hour.
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10
Cut the cold grits into triangles or rounds, and brown them in butter in a nonstick skillet over high heat for about 2 minutes on each side.
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11
You can heat the grits all the way through for 8-10 minutes in the skillet, or simply brown them, then transfer to a baking sheet.
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12
Heat in a hot oven for about 10 minutes when ready to serve.
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13
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
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14
Add the onion, celery, tasso, thyme, cayenne, paprika, and garlic and cook until vegetables are soft, 35 minutes.
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15
Add the remaining tablespoon butter, then sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir to combine.
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16
Whisk in the Shrimp Stock, bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and reduce the liquid by half.
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17
Add the cream and simmer until the sauce is thickened to a creamy consistency, about 4 minutes.
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18
Finish sauce with the salt, pepper, and the lemon juice and hot sauce, to taste.
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19
Keep it warm while you cook the shrimp.
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20
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
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21
When the oil is shimmering, add the shrimp, season with salt, and cook, stirring, for 23 minutes until almost cooked through.
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22
Pour in the tasso cream and stir to coat shrimp.
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23
Lower the heat to medium and cook about 2 more minutes.
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24
Taste and adjust seasoning.
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25
To serve, place one portion of grits on each plate and spoon the shrimp and cream over the top.
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26
Garnish with sliced scallions.
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27
Technically, grits can be just about any coarsely ground grain, but usually they are made from corn.
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28
Theres a pronounced difference in flavor between quick-cooking commercial grits and a stone-ground product.
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29
Stone-grinding corn preserves its sweet flavor and results in a coarse, satisfying texture (that takes a bit longer to cook).
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30
Stone-ground grits are available at most specialty food stores, or you can find them at www.hoppinjohns.com (see Sources, p. 384).
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31
Chef Donald says that whenever you make sauce with a roux in the base, like this one, always add your liquids in stages so that you dont make your sauce too thin.
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32
Sauce is always easier to thin out, by adding a bit more liquid, than to thicken.
