Grits and Shrimp, One Pot
Cheese grits with freeze-dried shrimp and a garlic-paprika oil stirred in at the end.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- 500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Quick grits | 1/2 cup | instant, not stone-ground, which takes 40 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried shrimp | 1.5 oz | sold for aquariums or in Asian groceries; camp-food brands also sell them |
| Powdered whole milk | 2 tbsp | |
| Powdered cheddar | 3 tbsp | the mac-and-cheese kind |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, cayenne | 1 tsp total | heavy on the paprika, light on the cayenne |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Dried chives | 1 tsp |
Method
- Put the shrimp in your mug or pot with 100 ml of hot water and let them sit while you do the rest. They need the head start.
- Boil 400 ml of water with the bouillon stirred in.
- Rain the grits in slowly while stirring. Lumps form the instant you dump them all at once.
- Simmer on the lowest flame you can hold for three or four minutes, stirring often. Grits scorch on a canister stove faster than anything else you carry.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the milk powder and cheddar powder until smooth.
- Drain the shrimp if there is water left, then stir them in with the oil, spices, and chives. Lid on for two minutes.
The original is grits cooked in milk and broth, set firm, cut into cakes, grilled, then topped with marinated shrimp and a mascarpone sauce. None of that survives contact with a stove and one pot. What survives is the pairing: a salty, fatty corn base under something with garlic and paprika on it.
Mascarpone becomes powdered milk plus cheese powder, which gets you the fat and the body without a cooler. The shrimp are freeze-dried and rehydrated separately because throwing them into the grits raw-dry leaves you chewing on erasers. Cook the grits low and stir them; the bottom of a titanium pot is thin enough to burn corn in under a minute.
Packing
Grits, milk powder, cheese powder, bouillon, and spices go in one bag. Shrimp ride in their own bag so they stay dry until you want them soft.
Variations
- A foil pouch of shrimp or crab replaces the freeze-dried, at the cost of weight and a wet pouch to pack out.
- Bacon crumbles or a spoon of dried tomato powder push it toward a fuller sauce.
- No shrimp available: doubled cheese powder and a hot sauce packet still works.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/grilled-shrimp-and-grit-cakes