Sous Vide Shrimp and Grits Recipe

Sous Vide Shrimp and Grits Recipe

Shrimp and Grits Sous Vide Ingredients:

• 1 recipe Butter Cooked Sous Vide Shrimp, see recipe below
• 2 recipes Hominy Sous Vide Grits, see recipe below.
• 2 or as needed lemons, fresh, for garnish

Instructions on plating the Sous Vide Shrimp and Grits:

1. Divide the cooked grits between 6 suitable serving plates or 1 large serving platter.
2. Evenly scatter the shrimp over the grits.
3. Drizzle the buttery cooking liquid and a bit of the reserved bacon fat over the shrimp.
4. Garnish with the crisped bacon, parmesan and lemon wedges.
5. Serve immediately.

Sous Vide Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds large shrimp (raw, fresh, defrosted or frozen, peeled to the tail and divined) 
• 1/2 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 ounces unsalted "sweet" butter, cut into slices
• 2 - 4 tablespoons high quality olive oil or similar, or as needed
• NOTE: Save shells for shrimp stock sous vide if needed

Shrimp Instructions:

1. Preheat the VacMaster Sous Vide Water Bath to 58°C/135°F
2. In a large bowl, toss the shrimp with the 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, baking soda and mix thoroughly.
3. Using your VacMaster Chamber Vacuum Machine and an appropriate sized VacMaster Sous Vide bag, add the seasoned shrimp and the butter slices and gently press the shrimp into a single layer and vacuum seal.
4. Gently add the pouch to the water bath and cook for a minimum of 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.
5. Alternatively, if the shrimp are frozen you can cook them up to two hours.
6. Remove the bag from your VacMaster SV1, SV5, or SV10 Sous Vide Immersion Circulator and strain the shrimp, optionally reserving the buttery cooking liquid.
7. Preheat a large saucepan over high heat and add the olive oil and quickly sear the shrimp on all sides about 30 seconds to a minute or so. Serve with the shrimp with the buttery cooking liquids.
8. Serve immediately.

Note: To properly prepare traditional grits (not quick cooking or instant or another version) requires time, time to slowly cook those cracked pieces of corn to soft creamy succulence. That my dear reader takes time and not unattended time, one needs to make sure that those delicious nuggets aren’t sticking the bottom of the pan, so one more time, Sous Vide to the rescue!!! Simply bagging the grits with an equal weight of water then flavored with butter, cheese, etc you can truly, set it and forget it! Granted it will take longer than traditional cooking but as its already sealed in the bag when done you can easily chill it down and bring it out when you need it - truly fast food that's good for ya!

Side Note: Ustatahamen is the Native American name for cracked maize grains cooked into a thick porridge. The culinary eggheads feel that the word Ustatahamen is the source for today's term of “hominy,” which of course begs the question, where did the word grits come from? Grits originally meant the bran and chaff that was left over from grinding Old World grains. So by the sixteenth century in a little switcheroo ALL coarsely ground grain, especially oats were called, “grits.” The theory then is that the colonists familiar with the grinding process used the term, grits to refer to the Native Americans use of the dried whole kernel corn that was boiled with lye to loosen the husk then dried and cracked. Nowadays, i can still find grits attached to either from hominy, yellow corn, white corn, oats, rice etc. That being said when I think of a bowl of steaming grits it’s made from hominy and it’s delicious! 

Sous Vide Grits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup hominy grits, coarse ground
• 4 ounces mozzarella, fresh, hand shredded
• 2 tablespoon unsalted sweet butter
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• 5 bacon strips, cooked crispy, crumbled, bacon fat reserved
• 2 ounces parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions:

1. Set your VacMaster SV1, SV5, or SV10 Sous Vide Immersion Circulator to 180ºF/82ºC
2. Using the VacMaster Sous Vide Bag Stand and an appropriate sized VacMaster Sous Vide bag add the water, grits, shredded mozzarella, butter and salt.
3. Using a VacMaster Chamber Vacuum Machine, vacuum seal the bag and place the bag in the water bath of the VacMaster SV1, SV5, SV10 Sous Vide Immersion Circulator and cook for 3-4 hours.
4. Transfer grits to appropriate sized serving bowls and top with the crumbled bacon, a drizzle of the reserved bacon fat and a dusting of the parmesan cheese. Enjoy!