Sweet and Savory Shrimp and Grits
This summer Red Stag by Jim Beam teamed up with Adam Richman, the popular "Man v Food" host, to bring the unexpected combination of Jim Beam's newest flavor innovations in the form of a food truck! The truck was in Chicago June 29th and 30th, but don’t fret, because we’re such an awesome city there are tasting events this coming weekend around Chicago. Samples of Red Stag’s Honey Tea, Spice, and Black Cherry will be available Friday July 26th at Mothers Too, July 27th at Streeters, and July 28th at Saddle Up Saloon.
Red Stag was kind enough to provide me with a bottle of each of their different flavors of bourbon, a gift card for buying ingredients, a sweet cocktail shaker and two great Red Stag glasses for my concoctions!
Pairing his signature 'no holds barred' personality with a flavorful kick, Richman worked with Jim Beam to create unique menu items inspired by and prepared with the Red Stag expressions. While you’ll be able to see Adam’s creations online, my first out-of-the-box idea is below!
I wanted to create a dish that went with my easy lazy Sunday afternoon cocktail, a twist on the Arnold Palmer, a drink made with lemonade and Red Stag Honey Tea bourbon. It’s super easy to make and will have you cooled off in no time in the hot Chicago sun. Just use equal parts lemonade, ice, and Red Stag Honey Tea, stir or shake it together and serve on ice! If you don’t want your drink to dilute I suggest you freeze some lemonade in ice cube trays ahead of time and use those instead of regular ice cubes!
Since bourbon comes from the South and so does sweet tea, I wanted to create a southern dish to go with Red Stag’s Honey Tea. The first idea to pop in my head was shrimp and grits! This is a dish I’ve wanted to make for a while, but haven’t exactly had an excuse to make; this challenge was the perfect opportunity!
[recipe-foody]
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/3 cup stone-ground grits, use the real ones if you can, not quick-cooking
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup ricotta
1/4 cup goat cheese
1/3 cup Red Stag Honey Tea
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 slices thick-cut bacon
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 medium shrimp, peeled, de-veined and tails removed
1 teaspoon lemon juice
chives
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil.
Reduce heat, simmer and stir in grits. Cook grits for 7-10 minutes or until tender and water is absorbed.
Remove from heat, add in butter, cheese, salt and pepper and stir until melted. Set aside.
While grits are cooking, cook bacon in a skillet over medium-low heat until crisp. Remove from pan, crumble and set aside.
To the bacon grease in the skillet, add half the garlic and bourbon. Cook for 1-3 minutes until reduced by half, and remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Set aside.
In another pan add shrimp, other half of garlic, red pepper flakes and other seasonings you may like and cook until opaque and pink, about 3 minutes.
Plate by pouring shrimp and sauce over grits and topping with crumbled bacon and chives.
