Shrimp and Cheesy Grits
I did not grow up eating grits. The only time I tried them in my "youth" was during college, headed to the Warped Tour at Hampton Colosseum with my friends Jed and Ty and Graham and Dan, Jed insisting we head to Waffle House for breakfast before the show. When in Virginia ...? I remember the menu included variations of grits to include, but certainly not limited to, Covered, Smothered, Buttered, Sputtered, Stuttered, possibly Mothered. I may be making some of those up. Point is, I was incredibly underwhelmed and a little bit grossed out. It wasn't until years later, watching Michael Chiarello's "You'll Never Live in Napa and Never Be Unawaredly Rich Like Me" cooking show, when I first heard of polenta. He made it look good, elevated, exquisitely delicate and complex. And then he said the words: polenta is basically just Italian grits. So, I decided to give polenta a try, and I liked it. And then I discovered actually complex, not-covered-in-chee...