Shrimp and Gravy for Supper Club

I emailed a friend and mentioned we were hosting supper club. The friend lives in Naples, Florida. Geographically, Florida is southern. Obviously. Every other way, it's really not; I shouldn't have been surprised when she emailed back and asked, "What's a supper club?"


Our supper club gets together about once a month. One couple hosts the dinner party and prepares a meal for the guests, about 20 people.


For our turn, we had Smoked Catfish Pate and fruit and cheese for appetizer. Good thing, too, because everyone arrives about 7:00 and we had so much fun visiting and catching up that it was 8:45 before we sat down at the table to eat. (Bad hosts! Bad! Note to self: next time, ask everyone to get there around 6:00.)

We had a green salad with brown-sugared pecans and sweet and sour vinaigrette.

The main course was Charleston-Style Shrimp and Grits over Asiago-Cheese Grits with Caramelized Onion.

Rhodes's rolls with honey orange butter


were on the table and lemon cheesecake with coffee for dessert.

Shrimp and Gravy
The Husband found this recipe online and we made a few adjustments to it.

3 slices bacon
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup chicken stock
1 green onion, chopped

Fry bacon over medium heat and remove to paper towels to drain. Add the butter to the bacon grease. (I ask you: were any prettier words ever written? Add butter TO the bacon grease!) When the butter melts, sprinkle 3 tablespoons of flour over it and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for about 12 minutes, stirring frequently, until the roux is dark brown. Reduce heat if it starts to scorch.

Add the chopped onions and bell pepper when the roux is dark brown. Increase the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the shrimp in a large bowl with the seasonings and remaining flour. Pour in to the pan with the onion and bell pepper, stirring frequently for one minutes. Stir in the chicken stock and reduce heat to low. Cook just long enough to thicken the broth, being careful not to overcook. You don't want the shrimp to get tough!

Spoon out grits onto a plate and top with a ladle-full of the shrimp and gravy. Top with crumbled bacon and chopped green onion.

Maybe the blue next time

A few weeks ago I was at a Fresh Market to get some tuna steaks.

And to smile at the display of flowers, to flinch at the prices of produce, to ogle the bread display, and mostly to wander around and daydream.

The customer in front of me asked the seafood counter lady if they had redfish.

She looked in the display case and there was no redfish.

"No red fish but we do have salmon," she said helpfully.

Because salmon is you know, salmon-colored, which is kind of close to red.

BLESS HER HEART.

I glanced at the customer, who looked confused.

She said, "What about grouper or catfish?"

I'm thinking the seafood counter lady was thinking, "Hell, that fish is white."

Fail

Why I don't make New Year's resolutions:

A couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be a good idea to try to eat fish more often. Like once a week. And not just any fish, but tuna because it's good for you.

We always have tuna the same way. The Fiance prepares it and it is fabulous. We thought we might want to branch out and try something different, though, if we were going to eat it once a week.

Last week The Fiance marinated a tuna steak in soy sauce and sesame oil - sounds yummy, no? I love sesame. (I've GOT to try that recipe Pam left in the comments. It sounds wonderful.) He got the grill nice and hot and grilled the tuna. It took longer than we thought but was by no stretch overcooked.

But.

The fish, it tasted, fishy.

That sounds nonsensical but I grew up eating catfish, farm-raised catfish. Grain-fed farm-raised catfish is a white fish with a mild, almost sweet taste. It can be prepared a jillion different ways. That's the kind of fish I'm used to.

The Fiance said that he, too, thought it tasted fishier than usual. Maybe it was the marinade, maybe it was the longer cooking time on a grill rather than the quick stove-top sear. Maybe it was the piece of fish.

Next time we're going to try the same marinade seared on the stove-top.

We had the wonderful shredded brussel sprout dish with it, although we used turkey bacon and substituted olive oil for part of the butter. It was good but, I have to say, not the transcendental experience the first time was.

In other news, earlier this week, we re-tried a previous just-okay recipe and the second time around it was delicious. I'll post that one soon.

I Eat Raw Fish *

One of my best friends has long, long tried to tempt me with stories of delicious, fresh fish, like tuna, thrown in a hot pan and then just as quickly taken out. I can't help it; I look at it and I see RAW FISH.

I don't care what grade it is, blah, blah, blah. That is an animal and it's being consumed uncooked. That can't be healthy, and also, ewwwwww.

Then, you know what? I actually tried it and guess what? It is incredible!

I'm a convert now.

So much so that last night that's what we had for dinner.


Jeffrey coated the steaks with Cavender's Greek Seasoning and Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish seasoning, then heated a skillet and added butter and olive oil. He cooked the steaks for about three minutes on each side. We had linguine with a pesto sauce, The Salad, and bread, which we'll talk about more in a minute.

Doesn't that look fabulous?

We had this wine with dinner.




The bread comes from our beloved Kroger bakery. It's a multi grain take-and-bake loaf, meaning it's partially cooked. We bake it at about 400 degrees for a few minutes until it feels firm to the touch but isn't browned.

Then you take it from the oven and slice it. Wait - earlier, like when you first start cooking, melt about two tablespoons of butter over low heat. Add two coarsely chopped cloves of garlic and let it steep on nice and low.

Right there? Is usually where we stop with the butter. You take the sliced bread and brush on the garlic butter mixture and slide the slices back in the oven until they're good and crisp and golden. (Actually, you could brush the stuff on top of the loaf without slicing it if you wanted to.)

HOWEVAH. Last night, we went one better and added about two tablespoons of honey to the butter and garlic.

Well.

I cannot tell you how good it was. The honey set off the goodness of the whole grain and played off the savory garlic and the butter made it all better.


Clearly, after a meal like this, no dessert was called for. What could have topped this?

Wait. Don't tell me.

Creme brulee!

Hmmmm. Stay tuned.....








* Seared isn't cooked. No, it's not.