I'll get around to it

But before I actually talk on what this blog is supposed to be about, I thought I'd share my, "Well DUH!" moment.

Your results:
You are Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman 60% Spider-Man 55% Superman 50% The Flash 50% Supergirl 45% Iron Man 45% Catwoman 40% Green Lantern 35% Robin 32% Hulk 30% Batman 25%

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...


Of course I am Wonder Woman. I love that Supergirl was also ranked high on the list of superheroes I am like. I don't understand the Hulk at all. I have to come out of the closet here am say I am a total comic book fan. Please don't hate me. I used to love Marvel comics and especially the X-Men, but then the storylines got all convoluted and they came up with these heroes and villains with complete unexplainable powers. Now I love DC comics since they actually care about things like continuity (well until they have some overarching crossover event where continuity gets thrown out the window).

Anyway, onto the food part of this post. I am still blown away by J's post about his history with food. I would hate to try and go on a diet in Texas because 95% of the recipes contains mayonnaise in huge proportions, cream cheese, or a block of velveeta. And they taste incredible.

While we were in Texas, we went to this bistro-type restaurant called Hannah's. A good mix of fine dining (seared tuna) and soups and sandwiches. And they had waffle cut fries - MMMMMMM. A real stand-out was their shrimp and grits. It was fried grits covered in shrimp with an ettoufee-like sauce. Sooooo tasty. I loved that the flavors were pronounced but subtle. No one taste overpowered any other one.

Because J and I have made etoufee at home, I vowed to recreate this dish in Washington. With a little planning it happen on a night where we had guests. Perfect!

Shrimp and Grits
1 cup grits
3 1/2 cups water, stock (vegetable or chicken), or milk or any combination thereof
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 medium onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon cajun seasoning (like Tony Cachere's)
2 tablespoons of Bac-Os or two slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
3/4 cup of stock
1 pound of shrimp peeled and deveined
1 green onion finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

The first thing to do is make your grits. Make according to directions for one cup of dry grits. Because you want your grits to solidify, use half a cup less liquid than the box tell you to. For the liquid, you can use any proportion of milk, stock (chicken or vegetable), or water. I recommend equal portions of stock and water. Because I was cooking for a fish (but not meat) eater, I used vegetable stock. Taste the grits to make sure they are well flavored because underseasoned grits taste vile. Pour into a greased 13" x 9" x 2" inch baking dish. Let cool overnight.

Once cooled, cut the solidified grits into 4" x 2" strips and roll in flour. Pan fry in a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil until all sides have a nice light brown color and are slightly crisp on the outside. Put the strips into a baking dish and keep warm in a 300 degree oven.

In the meantime, prepare the etouffee. Saute the onion, garlic, and cajun seasoning in the butter. Add the flour and saute for a minute to get the raw flour taste out of the roux. Add the bacon-like pork product and maple syrup. Saute another minute or so. Add the stock and stir to avoid lumps and add salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp are a nice pink color. DON'T OVERCOOK! Pour shrimp mixture over the grits. Garnish with green onion.