Recipe: Shrimp Etoufee

There's just something about traveling and seeing friends and family that brings out my love of eating.  I mean, I really have an emotional affair with my food, and weeks later I'm still thinking and dreaming about it...if it was that good.

This past weekend I had the distinct pleasure of visiting a very good friend of mine named, Tawanna.  The last time I saw her, I was a Maid of Honor at her wedding 15 months ago.  We were long overdue for a visit, and I needed to see her new baby, which you can get a peek at in this post.

Tawanna can COOK!  Too bad she doesn't have a blog because she'd be super good at it, and she'd have a lot of useful stuff to share.  Anywho....she made me a great dish that can be used for brunch, lunch, or even dinner.  I love recipes that can do double duty.  Enjoy!

Ingredients
6-8 slices Bacon
2-3 servings Grits
Shrimp
Flour
Water
Onion
2 tbsp butter
Parsley
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Pepper

1.  Prepare 2-3 servings of grits depending upon how many people you want to feed.  Follow the directions on the box.  Once it is done, place it to the side.

2.  Cook 6-8 slices of bacon, and save the grease.  If you like bacon, this is the part of the recipe where you can add more.  Crumble your bacon into small pieces, and put it aside.  (You can saute some onions in the grease for added flavor if you would like)

3.  Now you will make a brown gravy using your bacon grease.  Once again, in my opinion you can never have too much gravy, and making it typically is not an exact science.  Here's what you want to do though: there should be a thin layer of hot bacon grease coating the bottom of the skillet.  Spoon in about 3 spoonfuls of flour and stir it around until it becomes dark brown and pasty.  Next add about 2 cups of warm/hot water and continue to stir until thick and smooth and set it aside.

4.  Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and saute your shrimp in the butter.  Season the shrimp with parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper.  Once the shrimp are cooked all the way through, add them to the gravy.

5.  Here's the fun part!  Scoop the grits into a bowl and then scoop some gravy and shrimp on top of the grits.  Sprinkle the crumbled bacon on top to your liking and enjoy!

***If you don't like grits, feel free to substitute with rice.

I can't wait to make this for the hubsters and my mom!

Let me know if you try it!

What do you like to do with your family and friends?

You can also find this recipe and many more on OrgJunkie!