A typical family watching TV as depicted on television
This meant that my idea of what a mother should be like was fashioned by Donna Reed.
Man, could she ever toast some bread!
Careful Donna! Don't scorch yourself on those stove burners!
I figured when you threw a party, it was going to be just as fun as the ones Rob and Laura Petrie hosted.
I am sure the drinks were flowing this night
And when you were really hungry, nothing but vittles could satisfy an appetite as big as Jethro’s.
Jethro drives Granny crazy as he contemplates his next meal
In 1976, my family moved from upstate New York to Richmond, VA (the heart of the south or so I thought). I had no idea about what I was about to encounter when I reached the “deep south". I had seen the images of plantations on TV and hoped I would live near one. Or, if I was lucky, I might finally get a chance to see some actual tumbleweed in action!! Boy was I in for some disappointment.
We arrived by train in August of 1976 at the Richmond Amtrak station. From the looks of things, we could have been anywhere. It looked no more southern than any of the other places I had seen. We checked into a hotel for the night, excited to think that the next morning we were going to have our chance to look around Richmond and see our new home.
When we went for breakfast and I knew exactly what I was going to have. I didn’t even need to see the menu. The waitress came over the to the table she greeted us with a friendly, “Hi Y’all, How ya’ll doing? What Kin I getcha to start off?”
Finally I had a chance to fulfill a dream of mine. I was in the south now and I was going to order a real southern breakfast. With out missing a beat, I spoke up and told the waitress, “ I’d like to order some Vittles please!”
Dazed, and perhaps amused, the waitress just looked at me for a moment and then said, “Uh huh, okay but what did you want to order?”
“Vittles! “ I told her, not really sure what was going on.
“Vittles?” She asked. And then she looked over at my parents, who were both looking at me at this point.
“Yeah, Vittles" , I said again. "It’s what Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies always ate when he was hungry.”
Silence.
Then the laughs started and I realized the laugh was on me.
Luckily, the waitress was a professional and took pity on me. She explained that when Jethro ordered Vittles, that was just his way of talking about food. And then she suggested if I really wanted a good southern breakfast, I might be happy with some grits.
Grits sounded good to me so I ordered them. What I got was something that reminded me of Cream of Rice, but much more coarse and neither sweet nor savory. They came with butter, and I put salt and pepper on them. They were just okay. So much for a great southern breakfast I thought.
This is a photo of my sister Alice and I. It looks like I am telling her what I really thought of the great Vittles I had that first morning in Virginia.
Since then, I have come to love eating grits like the true southerner have become.
Fast forward 30 years. My sister Alice and her husband Al have agreed to accept our invitation to come for Sunday Breakfast at our house. It was now my turn to make the Vittles.
I have called my sister Alice either Ali or Al for as long as I can remember, but now I just call her Al (or sometimes Sistah). So when Alice and her husband are together, we just call them Al and Al.
My brother-in-law Al’s family originally comes from New Orleans. New Orleans is known for its shrimp dishes. For this reason, when Al and Al came for breakfast I wanted to try my hand at making Shrimp and Grits.
Today’s recipe is the dish I made that day and in regard to flavor, it is miles ahead of the bland grits I first tried so many years ago.
This recipe comes to us courtesy of Martha Nesbit. I really think you will enjoy this one. It is great choice to serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Our friend Flo
The waitress Flo on the TV show Alice used to say, “ Kiss my Grits!” If she made Shrimp and Grits like this, you will have no trouble following her suggestion.
Martha Nesbit's Shrimp and Grits
Ingredients:
4 Cups of Water
Salt and Pepper
1 Cup Stone-ground Grits
3 Tablespoons of Butter
2 Cups of Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 Pound of Shrimp that has been peeled and deveined.
6 Slices of Bacon, chopped
4 Teaspoons Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Chopped Parsley
1 Cup thinly sliced Scallions
1 Large Clove of Garlic, minced
Directions:
Bring the Water to a boil. Add a pinch of Salt and Pepper. Add Grits and cook until the water is absorbed. This should take about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Butter and the Cheddar Cheese.
Rinse the Shrimp and then pat dry. Fry the chopped Bacon until brown and crisp. Remove the Bacon from the skillet and allow it to drain on a paper towel.
Add the Shrimp that you have patted dry into the hot Bacon Grease. If the shrimp is wet it will make the grease pop and splatter. Cook the Shrimp until it turns pink. Add in the Lemon Juice, the Chopped Bacon, Parsley, Scallions and the garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes.
Spoon the Grits into a serving bowl and then mix in the Shrimp mixture. Serve immediately. This makes an excellent brunch dish when you have guests who will be serving themselves.
If you wish to serve this dish to your guests, you can elect not to mix the shrimp mixture in to the grits before serving. When serving guests, I suggest that you portion the grits out into each guest’s bowl and then top each serving with the shrimp mixture just before bringing the dishes to the table.
So did Al and Al like the Shrimp and Grits? Absolutely. And now that you have this recipe for Shrimp and Grits, you may never want to go back to plain grits again.
Okay, now it is time for a few confessions.
First I will admit that I might have watched a wee bit too much TV as a kid. Perhaps my choice of role models for how the rest of the world lived was not the best.
There isn’t any tumbleweed to be found rolling down Main Street in Richmond. I guess I should have known that tumbling tumbleweed is a “Ye Olde West” thing. And we are talking the REAL WEST not the west end of Richmond.
And as for living near a bunch of plantations, that is another bust. While there are quite of few plantations in Virginia that are open for the public to visit, there weren’t any in my parents’ neighborhood as I had hoped.
What is true is that Richmond is a great place to live or visit. We have so many wonderful historic and cultural things to enjoy here. Richmond has become quite a place for foodies like me who enjoy dining adventures.
If you haven’t yet had the chance to come to Richmond to visit, I hope that you can make plans to come visit us sometime soon.
Of course if you have been here before, then there is just one thing left for me to say,
No comments:
Post a Comment