As all true foodies, I love to experiment with ideas and concepts. This idea originated with the traditional southern dish shrimp and grits. The leap from grits to polenta is obvious and I add a little creamed corn for texture...but it wouldn't make it on my blog unless it were unusual and somewhat unhealthy. So what to do...well, as I absolutely love butter, as my cholesterol can attest, why not make the polenta into cakes and fry them in butter...okay, now we are headed down a path I can get into.
(As an aside on the polenta, friends...make it yourself. It is completely worth your time and with instant polenta available, a little chicken stock and milk and you can make what could be a bland addition to your meal something special...and of course frying it in butter or bacon fat won't hurt it either.)
Now for the BBQ shrimp. Nothing too unusual for the shrimp...I simply marinate it for a few hours in a wonderfully fruity olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper. However, as many foodies can empathize, my wife has allergies and can't have tomatoes. I have found this a unique and often fun challenge. Unless you have to avoid it, you wouldn't imagine how many things have tomatoes in them. So, for the BBQ sauce we started with a mustard base...using standard yellow mustard, and a little nice spicy brown mustard...add a little water, brown sugar, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and of course salt and pepper.
Make a bed of the fried polenta cakes, toss the seared shrimp with all that nice caramelization on it, with the sweet and spicy mustard BBQ sauce and pour it over the top. One thing to note, be careful how much of the sauce you use as it can overwhelm the shrimp. However, if you get the right balance this is an amazing and of course not quite healthy alternative to shrimp and grits.
Enjoy...
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