Mom and Dad took me to an excellent Denver restaurant called Venue, in the Highlands when I was home this last time.  I ordered their signature dish, Shrimp and Grits, and it was awesome!  After telling Will about it, he asked if I thought I could replicate it (coming from a good Southern family, the boy loves grits).  I told him I could sure try.  I’m proud of the outcome!  I don’t know exactly how they do their grits at Venue, so I just guessed.  However, they did tell us that they use Emmantaler cheese, which is a type of Swiss.  I found this at the Commissary.  I was reading about Emmantaler in my ingredients book and it said Gruyere is similar, so I imagine that could work too.  Also, at Venue, you get Black Tiger Shrimp. The Commissary here, however, thinks it’s a good idea not to have a fish monger, even though I can see the ocean from the Commissary parking lot (okay, not quite, but almost).  So, I had to get jumbo shrimp which were frozen, so they were not as good as other not-frozen shrimp might have been, however, the dish was still great!  Here’s what I did (I made it up as I went along):

For Grits:

1clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup minced sweet yellow onion

2 TBSP Olive Oil (2 turns of the pan)

1 cup Old Fashioned white grits

1/2 cup chicken broth

1  1/2 cups milk

Salt

1/3 cup Emmantaler cheese, finely grated

Cilantro

Sriracha chili sauce

For Shrimp:

1 TBSP olive oil

1 lb Jumbo or Black Tiger Shrimp

1 clove garlic

pinch of cayenne

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a sauce pan of medium heat.  Saute onions and garlic until they are softened and have a tiny bit of color (you don’t want them too dark or they will stand out in the grits).  Add broth and 1 cup of milk. Bring to a boil.  Add grits and salt to taste, stirring to combine.  Reduce heat to low and cook grits for 5-7 minutes, then stir in last 1/2 cup of milk.  Cook another 10-15 minutes, until the grits are soft and creamy in texture. 

Meanwhile, season shrimp with salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne.  Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and saute.  When garlic is browned and has flavored the oil, remove from pan. Add shrimp to pan and saute 5-7 minutes, or until pink on the outside and opaque in the center. 

Once grits are soften and creamy, stir in Emmantaler.  If grits are too thick, add a splash more milk. 

Serve grits garnished with cilantro on top and Sriracha sauce spread on the plate beside the grits, place shrimp on top of grits. 

This was soooo good and so much fun to try to replicate a recipe.  Of course, Venue does it best, but sometimes it’s fun to experiment!!!