>>So shrimp and grits are one of those classic southern dishes.

And I love shrimp and grits all different ways.

You can make them with cheese, without cheese.

This is really kind of an Italian-inspired shrimp and grits.

And what we're gonna do is start off with the grits because they cook a long time, 15 to 20 minutes, unless you use quick cook grits.

So I'm gonna start with four tablespoons of butter that I've melted in my sauce pan, and I'm adding to that two cups of a nice chicken stock, and then two cups of heavy cream that for today I just scalded so it was nice and warm.

(mellow jazz music) You don't have to do that step to your cream.

Now, I want to bring this just to a simmer.

It's just about there because I added everything hot.

And now, I'm going to add one cup of grits.

Notice that I'm not putting in any salt because that chicken stock already has salt in it, as does the butter.

(mellow jazz music) Then let's just give those a stir.

Until they start to boil, you really don't need to stir constantly.

But once they do, that viscosity starts to build in the pot and you want to make sure that you're bringing up all of that heat from the bottom of the pan so that you're not going to get burned the second that you do.

Now, in my fry pan, I have some really hot butter, about four tablespoons, so this takes a stick of butter between the two.

And I'm gonna drop in some chopped prosciutto.

This is three ounces of chopped prosciutto.

If your package is four ounces, go ahead and use it.

No problem.

(mellow jazz music) Let's just give that a little stir around.

And while that's getting some color, I'm going to chop up a little shallot.

The shallot gives us a great flavor component and it adds to the texture of the dish.

Now, you'll notice a lot of times when you cut a big shallot, there are actually two shallots there.

You can use all of that or just use half of it.

I think I'm just gonna use the big part.

And then what we wanna do is peel off all of the peel and any layer that feels like paper There we go.

Let's just get all that off.

You don't want to bite into that papery feel on your onion or shallot.

Always look for that before you slice yours up.

You can see our prosciutto is starting to crisp.

That's what we wanna see.

And right now, I'm getting a little boil on my grits so let's go ahead and give those a stir.

You don't want your grits to be clumpy, and if you're not stirring, you're going to end up with clumpy grits.

And if you don't stir often, you'll build up so much heat on that pan that as it bubbles up, it will burn you really, really badly.

Think volcano.

Okay, so let's just go ahead and mince this shallot.

And what I'm gonna do is cut through like this and then I'll come back and cut across the top all the way down.

That way my mincing will go really, really easily and quickly.

And remember, if you're keeping that south pole on your onion, that root end, you will have that ball all together and then your shallot doesn't go everywhere for you on your board.

Now, let's put that down in.

Oh, the smell is fabulous.

And stir that through.

And we'll just stir up those grits.

Oh, delicious.

Now, at this point, I want to add some shrimp.

I like to use big shrimp for this, because when I plate, I think they're just so beautiful.

So let's start to put in some shrimp, and I'm gonna put in at least enough for three servings here.

So if we go with three of these really large shrimp, let's go with nine of those shrimp, these are about 12 per pound.

So if I go with four servings, that's 12.

If I go with three servings, that's nine.

Right now, I'm just gonna do three servings in this pan just to make it a little bit faster.

So what you're looking for on your shrimp is a nice pink color.

And let's stir those grits.

Oh, those are gonna taste so good.

They're so creamy.

At this point, you want to make sure that you lower your temperature because the higher your temperature, the more this will bubble up in the bottom and cause that volcanic effect that can pop out and just burn you all over.

But they're starting to get thick and beautiful.

So once these shrimp are done, they're nice and pink through, and you can look down the backside and see that they're not gray, then we want to go ahead and turn off our pan, finish those grits, and then we'll plate it up.

So let's plate this up.

Plating can be simple, it can be complex.

A lot of times I just take that shrimp, stir it into my grits.

But today, I wanna do it just a little differently, because let's say we're doing this for guests for dinner, let's do something fun.

Let's put down a little bit of our grits in a nice little cocktail dish.

And then we want to lace it with a bit of our prosciutto and shallots.

Oh, gorgeous.

Then just a little bit more.

And then let's top it with some of those shrimp.

And then maybe just a touch of our prosciutto again on the top.

You could sprinkle this with a little bit of parsley or whatever you'd like just to garnish it off.

But isn't that gorgeous?

I just love the shrimp and grits.

Now, let's try it with this wine.

So anytime you have a red blend or white blend, you're thinking, what does each one of those grapes in that blend do for me?

Well, in this one, the Sauvignon Blanc gives you this beautiful citrusy fruit, while Traminette gives you a little sweetness, and that Albarino gives you a little bit of spark, like that acidity, that intense acidity, and then let's not forget the last one, the Viognier, which is going to give you a little floral quality.

Now, let's try it with the grits.

(mellow jazz music) Wow.

I taste every one of those ingredients in my mouth.

I taste every one of the varietals with the wine.

That is a very enchanting pairing.

And I hope you'll love it.

(mellow jazz music) (bright music)