Summer Recipes

4 Cups Water

3 Tea Bags

½ cup granulated sugar

Possible Additions:

Lemon Wedges & Fresh Mint

Directions:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Remove from heat and add 3 tea bags (without cardboard identification tag). Cover and steep for 12 minutes.
Gently remove the tea bags. Add sugar to tea and stir until dissolved. Pour the tea into a 1quart heatproof container.

Serve a few minutes after making or a few days after it’s been sitting in the refrigerator.
Add a wedge of lemon or and or a bit of mint if you desire.

I’ve found that the prepared iced tea I’ve bought at supermarkets the taste the same whether it’s in my refrigerator for a day or a week. I’ve never seen my iced tea get to be a week old.

5 cups chicken broth
1 cup stone-ground grits (sometimes it’s labeled polenta)
2 teaspoons of salt
2 cup shredded sharp cheese
2 cups half-and-half
2 tablespoons butter (if using precooked bacon otherwise use the bacon drippings)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 can diced green chilies, drained
1 tomato diced
2 pounds of peeled, cleaned, deveined shrimp (I use frozen)
6 slices of bacon (I’m lazy, I use precooked bacon)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if you like it hotter)
¼ cup flour
¼ cup butter

Directions:

Cooking the Grits:

Bring 4 cups of chicken broth, 1 cup of grits and 2 teaspoons of salt to boil in a heavy sauce pan with a lid. Add half-and-half and stir. Turn the heat down to simmer until grits thicken approximately 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Cover and set aside.

Cooking the Shrimp & Vegetables

If using uncooked bacon, place it in a large skillet and fry until brown. (I use precooked bacon and microwave it instead and then crumble when cool.) If using real bacon, transfer the cooked bacon to paper towels to drain and crumble when cool.

If using real bacon, retain the bacon drippings in the skillet and add the peppers, onion, and garlic to the drippings and sauté until translucent.

If using precooked bacon, add 2 teaspoons butter to a skillet and then sauté the peppers, onion, and garlic in butter until translucent.

Add the shrimp to the skillet with the cooked vegetables and heat on medium.

While the shrimp mixture is cooking, in a small sauce pan, melt ¼ cup butter and then stir in ¼ cup of flour to make a smooth roux (paste). Cook the roux on low for about 8 minutes, stirring constantly until it turns a medium brown color. This can burn easily so keep an eye on it.

Once the roux is browned, add it to the skillet with the shrimp and vegetables and over medium heat add, 1 cup of chicken broth, crumbled bacon, green chilies, diced tomato, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the sauce thickens and the shrimp turns pink.

To the warm grits, add 1 cup of cheddar cheese and heat until the cheese melts. (Note, if you prefer thinner grits, you can thin by adding more chicken broth until you reach your desired consistency.)

Serve shrimp and vegetable mixture over the cheddar grits.

Serves 8