More weekend fun- Oven BBQ Shirmp and Grits

Our five day staycation weekend did leave room for some home cooking too. Thursday night wehad our friend Guy and Morgan over for dinner which turned into impromptu game night too! We started off with dark and stormy's, my new favorite cocktail (thank you Tripp and Luci!) and my mom's hummus. For those of your unfamiliar as I was not so long ago, dark and stormy's are made with dark rum, ginger beer (similar to ginger ale but spicier) and fresh lime. Mix and serve over lots of ice in a tall glass. **WARNING- they go down easy! Mom's hummus is an old standby from our middle east days. I'll get into more detail later but my family moved to Saudi Arabia when I was 3 years old. My dad took a job with ARAMCO oil company for what he thought at the time would be a couple of years. Nineteen years later, my parents moved back to Lexington, KY where they currently reside. I was back in the US for high school and college but was lucky to get to visit a couple of times each year. Anyways, I digress.... So hummus was a staple at our house. Homemade is really better than store bought and can be made in a jiffy. I started the food processor and dropped one small clove of peeled garlic down the shoot as I call it with the blade running. I then added 1 can drained chick peas, approx 3 T tahini (sesame paste), a pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2, tsp paprika and a small sprinkle of cayenne. Blend this up and it should be kind of chunky and thick. Then, with the top on and the motor running, pour lemon juice (you can use bottled juice for this believe it or not) down the shoot until it starts to thin out. I never actually measure but I would guess its a third of a cup or so? Stop to scrape down the sides and taste. Once the texture looks right, it should taste right too. If its getting too lemony, you could add a little water to continue to thin it out. I poured it into a bowl and drizzled with Harris Teeter's bottled balsamic glaze. They've done the smelly work of reducing it for you which is fantastic! Serve with pita bread, pita chips or in this case crostini. Always a hit!

For the main course, I also turned to a family favorite, my Mom's BBQ Shrimp. We actually served this with white rice when I was younger but I've adapted the dish since living in Charleston to include grits instead. On this occasion I went all out with a white cheddar jalapeno grit souffle actually. I used quick grits and followed the cooking directions on the package. For 2 lbs of shrimp, I followed the instructions for 6 servings of grits however if you made more, they are great left over for breakfast with eggs the next day too! While they cooked, I quickly sauteed one minced shallot and one finely chopped jalapeno (minus the seeds) and set aside. Once the grits were cooked, I added 4 T butter, a heaping cup of grated white cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan, the cooked jalapenos and shallot, a 1/2 tsp of garlic salt and a 1/2 tsp of white pepper. I then added a splash of heavy cream to smooth it all out and set aside to cool while I buttered a medium sized baking dish and dusted it with finely grated parmesan cheese. Now for the souffle part- and don't be scared, this is fool proof. While the grits cooled some- I whipped two egg whites in the mixer until foamy and barely stiff. I then added a large spoonful of the grits to the egg whites and folded it in gently. I then added the rest of the grits, folded gently until combined, and poured into the prepared dish. Into the oven at 375 for about 35 minutes or until set (not too jiggly) and browning on top. As soon as the grits went in, I started on my shrimp. The shrimp is a sideways kind of take on Louisiana BBQ Shrimp actually. The best part is that the recipe is SUPER easy. Earlier in the day, I peeled and deveined 2 lbs of large shrimp. Rinsed them, patted dry and put back into the fridge. Once I was ready to go- in a medium sized baking dish I put 1 stick of butter (whole, right out of the fridge is fine), 3.5 T Worcestershire sauce (thank goodness for spell check), 1/2 tsp each dried rosemary, thyme and oregano, three garlic cloves minced, and the juice from half a lemon. Added about 1 tsp of salt (my butter was unsalted), a generous grind of black pepper and a sprinkle of cayenne. With the oven still at 375 degrees and the grits about half way done, I put the whole baking dish in for 5 mins or so until the butter melts and everything forms a sauce. I then add the shrimp to the dish, spreading out to a single layer, and cook for about 14 minutes. After 7 minutes, I check on them and make sure they are cooking evenly- give them a shuffly around the dish. THAT'S IT! So easy and SO very good. The shrimp and grits finished at almost exactly the same time- I plated together in a rimmed soup bowl to hold all of the sauce. Make sure you have a loaf of crusty french bread to serve on the side- you'll need it to sop up the yummy garlic butter goodness!

I served a simple green salad on the side (I like butter lettuce with a simple champaigne vinaigrette dressing) and Tyler Florence's Lemon Curd Berry Trifle for dessert! I used angel food cake instead of pound cake considering we got PLENTY of pounds from the grits and garlic butter =) A refreshing and light finish to a simply decadent dinner... We had a crisp and fruity Savingnon Blanc with dinner- also part of my Costco, wines-under-$12 project which complimented the spicy richness of the shrimp and grits well. Fat and happy we launched into a game of 90's Trivial Pursuit which lead to more wine which lead to some super competitive Wii Bowling! (I'm proud to say the ladies sweeped both games)The highlight of the evening was actually my friend Morgan's vintage Polaroid camera! She found it on eBay for $20, found some film on Amazon and we had a blast snapping bowling action shots until 1am. Another great night tacked on to our great long weekend!