Always looking for new and innovative comfort food for our guests that doesn’t include pork we developed a dish featuring New Mexico green chile to accompany a breakfast shrimp & grits dish. The inspiration came to Innkeeper Dan while attending an innkeeping industry conference in Nashville, TN where he devoured a shrimp & grits dish at a local restaurant and thought….why can’t we do something like this for breakfast!! Our dish featured here was recently voted the Grand Champion of the Association of Lodging Professionals Breakfast Dish Battle which pitted 16 breakfast dishes from all around the country in a March Madness type of breakfast bracket. Somehow we prevailed through the multiple rounds of Facebook voting! It’s a wonderful championship savory dish for your breakfast table when you’re looking to get away from traditional breakfast proteins! Enjoy!
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Prep Time:
15 Minutes
Cook Time:
60 Minutes
Total Time:
1 Hour and 15 Minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
- 4 1/2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup stone-ground white grits
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (or more) grated parmesan cheese
- 4 thick slices bacon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped white or yellow onion
- 1 cup chopped green pepper
- 4 oz of chopped green New Mexico Chile peppers
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 3 green onions, chopped (white and light green parts only)
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- Juice of 1 lemon, about 1 to 2 tablespoons
Instructions:
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Cook the grits - Bring the water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the salt. Slowly pour the grits into the boiling water while you stir with a wooden spoon. Stir and pour gradually so you don't get any lumps. When all the grits are incorporated, turn the heat down to a low simmer and cook the grits, stirring often, for 35 to 60 minutes. When tender, stir the butter and parmesan into the grits. The dish might not need any more salt, but add some if you'd like.
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Cook the bacon - Fry the bacon in a large sauté pan on medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon and chop. Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the fat. Turn off the heat.
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Chop the shrimp - Reserve about 1/3 of the shrimp whole and cut the rest into 3 to 4 pieces each. Set aside.
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Sauté the vegetables & shrimp. Heat a sauté pan with olive oil on medium high. Sauté the onion and green pepper over medium-high heat until soft, about 4 minutes, add garlic and chopped shrimp and cook 3 more minutes on medium heat. Add chopped green chile and 1 cup broth and boil down for 5 minutes. If need be, thicken with corn starch slurry.
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Quick fry whole shrimp in reserved bacon fat and reserve.
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To serve, spoon grits on individual plates. Create well in center when plating. Spoon shrimp sauce onto grits and top with whole shrimp, chopped bacon, green onions, parsley and lemon juice to taste. Serve at once with a side of eggs.
