Smoky Bacon and Cheddar Shrimp and Grits

Main Dishes

Girl Cooks World

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April 23, 2019

Smoky Bacon and Cheddar Shrimp and Grits

I did a fair amount of research before creating this dish for the blog. And you know what I found? The vast majority of the recipes are named plain ol’ Shrimp and Grits. The problem with that? Well it totally ignores two of the dish’s most delicious and marketable components: bacon and cheddar. Obviously some folks need to work on their advertising and marketing skills (my brief stint in PR finally pays off!). Calling this shrimp and grits is like calling a bacon cheddar burger just a hamburger.

This dish brings together so many of the Southern favorites: pork, corn, and seafood. It’s by no means a complicated recipe. In fact, this is one of the fastest one-dish meals I’ve blogged about. And the components are common and relatively inexpensive. But it comes together as a hearty dish that’s attractive and fancy enough for a dinner party. Think of it as Southern seafood and pork polenta.

Having this blog means I don’t often get to make recipes multiple times since I’m always testing something new, even when I’m a big fan. But I’m making it a top priority to make this again before the week is out. I hope you guys will give this one a shot.

Just one final note. Although I’m a huge proponent and lover of leftovers, this is one dish that really is best eaten immediately. The shrimp and bacon are a perfect complement to the puddle of creamy and soft grits.

Smoky Bacon and Cheddar Shrimp and Grits

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

* 1 cup stone ground grits (can substitute polenta if you’re unable to find traditional grits)
* 4 cups of water or shrimp stock (can also substitute milk for a cup or two of water)
* salt and pepper
* 4 Tablespoons butter
* 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
* 6 slices bacon, chopped (this is easier to do if the bacon is slightly frozen)
* 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
* 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
* salt and pepper

Directions:

Prepare the grits by bringing the water or stock (or water and milk) to a boil in a large saucepan. Slowly whisk in the grits and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to the lowest setting and cook, stirring constantly, for approximately 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and cheese. Keep warm.

If you’re a good multi-tasker and you’ve already measured/laid out all the ingredients, you can probably prepare the bacon and shrimp while the grits are cooking. Just remember to give the grits a good stir now and again.

Fry the bacon pieces in a large skillet or saute pan until crispy, draining off some of the fat as it’s rendered (save for another use). Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Again drain off any excess bacon fat, we just want about a Tablespoon or two to remain in the pan.

Add the shrimp and garlic to bacon grease and cook, stirring frequently, just until the shrimp has turned pink. Add the lemon juice, green onions and cayenne pepper and give the mixture a good stir.

Ladle some grits into a four individual bowls and top with a 1/4 of the shrimp mixture. Top with the crumbled bacon. Season, if necessary, with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Quick and Easy Tomatoes and Okra

Vegetarian

Girl Cooks World

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April 23, 2019

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Now I’ll be the first to admit that this may not be the flashiest recipe I’ve ever posted. I don’t expect many people to Stumble it or add it to Pinterest. But it’s still a winner in my book, and I’ll tell you why. There comes a point in every food blogger’s career that one of the recipes you were counted on didn’t turn out (I’m talking to you, key lime bars) and you need a replacement stat. And maybe you’re feeling a little bit lazy and don’t want to go to the store. And furthermore, perhaps you’ve eaten one too many Snicker’s peanut butter bars, are feeling kind of gross, and would really love to make something with that didn’t use copious amounts of sugar, butter or cream.

Well, the stars aligned when I found this recipe; it’s healthy, fast, and I miraculously had all the ingredients on hand. Oh, and did I mention that it tastes awesome and it’s vegan? Not too shabby for an 11th hour replacement, huh?

Quick and Easy Tomatoes and Okra

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

* 2 Tablespoons olive oil
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* one 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
* 1 pound sliced, frozen okra
* 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
* salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until the onion begins to turn golden. Add the tomatoes and okra and stir to mix. Reduce heat, cover, and let cook, stirring occasionally, until the okra is hot and tender.

Stir in the lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste.

Poat Dot – Cambodian Grilled Corn

Vegetarian

Girl Cooks World

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April 23, 2019

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I realize this post is slightly cruel. After all, the vast majority of you don’t have access to sweet Kahuku corn year round, and, furthermore, the next corn season will not be for many, many months. But this recipe is just too good to not share immediately.

Popular street food in Cambodia, grilled corn gets slathered in a salty and sweet fish sauce mixture punctuated with fresh scallions and red chile. If you’ve never used fish sauce before, this would be a great introduction to the stinky liquid gold; it single-handedly adds a sweet, salty and umami quality.

Intrigued but can’t bear to wait until next summer to try out this recipe? I’m thinking the sauce could also be used for a corn side dish or corn salad. Just make the sauce as written below and pour it over some defrosted frozen corn for a side for your next Southeast Asian meal.

Poat Dot – Cambodian Grilled Corn

Yield: 6 ears of corn

Ingredients:

* 6 ears corn, silk removed and husked pulled back and tied to form a handle
* 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
* 1 Tablespoon water
* 1 1/2 Tablespoon palm sugar (can substitute regular sugar)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 hot red chile pepper, seeded and minced
* small bunch scallions, thinly sliced
* 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions:

In a large stockpot, bring several inches water to a boil over high heat and then add the corn. When the water returns to a boil, cook for another 5 minutes. Remove with tongs and drain off excess water. Remove to a plate and pat dry.

Over an open gas-stove flame char one of the ears of corn, rotating it every so often until slightly blackened on all sides. Remove to a serving platter and repeat with the remaining ears of corn.

Combine the fish sauce, water, palm sugar, salt, chile pepper and scallions in a small bowl and stir until the palm sugar is dissolved.

Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the fish sauce mixture, bring to a boil and let simmer until the sauce has thickened slightly.

Remove from heat and brush the mixture over the corn. Serve immediately.

Note: Feel free to prepare the corn on the grill or just use steamed corn. Above is the method I use when I want the taste of grilled corn but don’t have access to a grill.

Cambodian Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup

Girl Cooks World

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April 23, 2019

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Like pho? Then this Cambodian chicken noodle soup will probably be right up your alley. Chicken is cooked in a lemongrass and garlic broth until falling apart tender. The meat is then combined with a little fish sauce, some fresh herbs and chile, and naturally gluten-free rice sticks, or noodles. Forget that gluten-filled Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup (or any other canned variety) next time you’re sick- garlic, basil and chile peppers have all been used as natural remedies to ward off the common cold and other illnesses.

Of course, there’s no reason to wait until you’re sick to try this gem; it’s healthy and relatively easy to make. And for you Canadians who celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday, this recipe would also be a great way to use up any extra turkey lying around … just use some of the bones for the initial stock (with the lemongrass and garlic) and then remove the bones prior to adding some shredded turkey.

Cambodian Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup

Yield: 4 appetizer-sized servings

Ingredients:

* 10 cups water, divided
* small handful (about 4-6 ounces) Thai rice sticks (linguini shaped rice noodles)
* 1 pound chicken parts (leg, thighs or breasts), skinned but with the bone left in
* 2 stalks lemongrass, woody outer leaves removed and then smashed
* 2 cloves garlic, smashed
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoons palm sugar (can substitute regular sugar)
* 2 Tablespoons fish sauce, plus extra for serving
* juice of two limes
* green onions, cut on the diagonal into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 hot red chile (I used a jalapeno pepper), minced
* handful of thai basil, roughly chopped
* handful of cilantro or sawtooth herb leaves, roughly chopped

Directions:

Heat 4 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and add the rice sticks. Let sit until noodles have softened. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Bring the remaining 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan and add the chicken, lemongrass, and garlic. Return to a boil and skim the surface. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until the chicken is very tender.

Remove the chicken to a plate and let cool just enough so that you can shred the chicken meat and return it to the saucepan. Add the salt, palm sugar, and fish sauce, lime juice, green onions, minced chile, basil, and cilantro or sawtooth herbs and stir to combine.

Place a small heap of cooked noodles in each bowl and then top with the soup. Serve with extra fish sauce on the side.

Stuffed Dates

Girl Cooks World

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April 23, 2019

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Before we get into the sweet and salty stuffed dates recipe, let me talk to you about another great appetizer. If you’ve never had a bacon wrapped date before, you owe it to yourself to try one as soon as possible. The version that’s stuffed with blue cheese is great, but I like almond filling even more; the almonds provide a really nice crunch and texture. I once brought several trays of them to a potluck BBQ; at first people were hesitant to try them since they thought the combination sounded odd. Well my friends, they were things gone and people are still talking about them to this day.

But what if you’re a vegetarian or vegan? No worries, this bacon-free version gets the job done. Pitted dates are stuffed with almonds, sautéed in a little olive oil and then get a hefty sprinkle of sea salt. You get the warm, soft sweetness of the dates, the crunch of the almond and the sea salt gives you that salty contrast. The fact that you can make these so much quicker than the bacon-wrapped version is both a blessing and a curse… I have a feeling I’m going to be making these pretty often from now on.

Sweet and Salty Stuffed Dates

Ingredients:

pitted dates
almonds
olive oil
sea salt

Directions:

Gently stuff the pitted date with a whole almond. Repeat with as many almonds and dates as desired.

Heat a very thin layer of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the stuffed dates onto the skillet. Cook on one side until the dates has softened and darkened a bit. Flip to the other side and again cook until the other side has darkened slightly.

Remove to a serving platter and sprinkle generously with sea salt. Enjoy!

*Check out my Dates with Pistachio and Mascarpone Filling recipe.

Greek Salad

Girl Cooks World

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April 23, 2019

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I’ve made Greek salad I don’t know how many times in my life. As it turns out, I’ve been doing it all wrong. What a difference some fresh oregano and real (i.e., sheep’s milk) feta makes… it’s absolutely incredible. These two simple upgrades take almost no extra effort but truly make a world of difference taste-wise.

I know that there are countless Greek salad recipes out there in cyberspace. But as much as I love providing you guys with original and unique recipes, there are those times I’ve got to be a little selfish. My obsessive-compulsive self loves that posting on Girl Cooks World is so much neater and cleaner (and takes up so much less space!) than my unorganized binders and folders of stained recipe print-outs covered in my chicken scratch notes. I knew this salad was a keeper so I’m mostly posting it for my future reference.

But I’m sure you guys will love it too. I kept it simple, but if you’re feeling crazy, throw in some red or green peppers in as well. And stay tuned for a super duper lentil salad coming up this week (as well as a killer shrimp dish!). There’s a lot of good food to come…

Greek Salad

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

* 2 cups chopped tomatoes (~2 large tomatoes)
* 2 cups chopped cucumbers (~1 large cucumber)
* 1 cup diced red onion (~1/2 medium red onion)
* 1/2 cup crumbled sheep’s milk feta cheese
* 1/2 cup kalamata olives (optional)
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
* 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
* salt and pepper

Directions:

Combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, feta cheese and olives in a large bowl and stir lightly to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, oregano and salt and pepper. Pour over the vegetables and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Greek Lentil Salad

Girl Cooks World

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April 23, 2019

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If you’ve read this blog for any time at all, you probably realize that I’m a pretty straight shooter. No superfluous, flowery prose here. I do my best to avoid the excessive use of adjectives and I try to avoid claims that a certain recipe is the best ever, or that it will change your life. That said, describing this lentil salad as anything less of magical would be selling it short in a major way.

Since cooking Greek was a last minute decision, I did some quick Google searches to find Greek cookbook recommendations. In a certain discussion board, several people recommended Flavors of Greece and specifically praised this lentil salad.

GAP

I’m so glad that I took their word for it and made this salad. It’s bright, flavorful, complex and healthy. It’s also vegetarian and vegan-friendly (my vegan friends, just omit the Greek yogurt. I snuck many many tastes before the yogurt was added and it was still excellent). But please don’t leave out the quick preserved lemons; they add such a pleasant salty and sweet tang. After you taste them, you might even be tempted to add more of them to the salad. This salad is also making me think that I need to add a favorites category to my recipe index…. and you better believe it would make the cut.

And just one final note for any Greek yogurt fans. For a long time I made my own yogurt and strained it to make my own Greek-style yogurt. I just don’t have the time to do it anymore, but I still need my fix from time to time. Unfortunately, Fage runs more than $10 a container out here, so when I saw this much more reasonably priced Greek yogurt from The Greek Gods, I was happy to give it a shot. It’s super super good. No, I’m not getting paid to say that, I’m just a fan. I can’t wait to try the honey version.

Greek Lentil Salad

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups dried green lentils
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds, briefly pulsed in a coffee or spice grinder (or lightly pounded in a mortar)
1/2 large red onion, cut into very very thin half circles
juice of 1 lemon, approximately 3 Tablespoons, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley, divided
2 Tablespoons finely chopped mint
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons quick preserved lemon, divided
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons Greek yogurt
cayenne pepper

Directions:

Rinse the lentils, place in a large saucepan and cover with several inches of cold water. Bring to a boil and then cover, reduce heat, and simmer until the lentils are soft but not falling apart. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface. Drain the lentils in a colander and set aside in the sink or over a plate to dry.

Place the cumin in a small dry skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring, until aromatic.

Combine the sliced onion, half of the lemon juice, half of the cumin, 1 Tablespoon of the parsley, and the mint and stir to combine.

Chop the garlic, 1/4 cup of the preserved lemon, the rest of the cumin, half of the remaining parsley, and a pinch of salt together to mix. Combine this in a large bowl with the lentils, the remaining parsley and lemon juice, the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Gently stir to mix.

Transfer to a platter and top with the marinated onions. Spoon the yogurt onto the center and sprinkle with the remaining preserved lemon and the cayenne pepper.

Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad

Girl Cooks World

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April 23, 2019

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For the past couple years, I’ve been cooking my own dried beans. My favorite? Rancho Gordo. They have some of the prettiest beans I’ve ever seen. Yellow beans? Black and white speckled beans? Purple beans? Check, check and check. And they all have super cool names, like Yellow Indian Woman, Jacob’s Cattle, and Snowcap.

Because of my love for these dried beans, I’ve definitely neglecting the canned varieties as of late, which is a shame because they’re so darned convenient. Buttery garbanzo beans get the Greek treatment with plenty of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and parsley while a little bit of white wine gives it a little bit of a fancy-pants flair. Not too shabby considering it took all of ten minutes start to finish.

Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

* two 15 ounce cans of garbanzo beans (or about 3 cups cooked garbanzo beans)
* 3 Tablespoons olive oil
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 Tablespoon fresh oregano, roughly chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, plus extra for garnish
* 1/4 cup white wine
* 1-1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice, or the juice of half a lemon
* 1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley

Directions:

Strain the chickpeas, reserving the can or cooking liquid, and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the onion until softened. Add the oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, white wine and 1/2 cup of the reserved bean liquid and stir to combine. Add the garbanzo beans.

Lower the heat to medium-low and let simmer until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Spoon into a serving bowl, pour the lemon juice over the top and sprinkled with parsley and some extra crushed red pepper flakes.

Greek Eggplant Dip

Girl Cooks World

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April 23, 2019

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Although I’ve named this a dip, it’s really so much more versatile than that. Yes, it would be a great dip for some vegetables or a nice chunk of crusty bread, but it also makes an excellent side dish or a creamy spread for grilled skewers or a veggie wrap.

Eggplants are baked until soft and then combined and pureed with garlic, onion, olive oil and parsley. A bit of red wine vinegar gives some sour tangy edge to the dip. It’s excellent when topped with a hefty dose of crumbled sheep’s milk feta, but if you’re vegan feel free to leave it out.

Greek Eggplant Dip

Ingredients:

* 1-1/2 pounds eggplant (any variety… I used long Japanese eggplants)
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 yellow onion
* 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
* 2 Tablespoons parsley
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* salt and pepper
* crumbled feta for topping/garnish (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and arrange on a rimmed baking sheet for approximately 45 minutes, or until soft.

When the eggplants have cooled enough for you to handle them, scoop out the flesh and put in a food processor or a high-speed blender, such as a Vitamix or Blendtec. Add the garlic, onion, vinegar and parsley and process until smooth. Then slowly add the oil while the machine is running. Stop the machine, taste, and season with salt and pepper. Remove to a bowl and top with feta, if desired. Eat warm or let cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to serve.