Shrimp Brochette and Jalapeno Grits with Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Bacon

About three years ago, my old roommate, Lindsey, and I were having a girls night out at a little place in Broken Arrow called Main Street Tavern. We sat at the bar, ordered a couple of appetizers and drinks and we were probably discussing my most recent disaster date, when a handsome blonde guy parked himself into the barstool next to mine.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He literally asked as the bartender handed me a drink I had just ordered.

After some flirty bantering back and forth, age guessing, Avril Lavigne comparisons (it was cute in retrospect, but I wasn't excited about it back then...) he asked for my number. I flashed him a smile and grabbed his phone to enter it myself.

The rest is history. :)

Fast forward 3 years, and we have a four month old son, just bought our first home together, and are getting married next year! All because we both ended up at the same place that night. So CUTE!

We spend our anniversaries and some birthdays there and always try to sit in the same spot that we met. I just love our little story. I also LOVE that they have such amazing food.

This brings me to our favorite dish that they serve, shrimp and grits. So, for my first recipe, I did my own version of shrimp and grits! And it's wrapped in bacon (duh!). Shrimp Brochette is also something you can find at a place called Pappasitos. We don't have them in Oklahoma and we should. It's the BEST! As a Texan/Okie hybrid, I love me some Tex-Mex, and Pappasitos is definitely up there with some of my favorite Mexican restaurants! 

My version of shrimp and grits is packed with flavor and definitely a recipe I created as I went. I didn't do a lot of measuring, but I did a lot of tasting to get things where I wanted them. I have learned how easy it is to over-salt things the hard way. Anyway, here it is! Oh yeah, if you use a cast iron skillet to cook your shrimp, remember that you should never grab the handle without a pot holder.... it's hot.. like super hot. I may have burnt my fingerprints off. :/

Ingredients:

1 cup Grits

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1/2 cup shredded Pepper Jack Cheese

1 clove garlic 

2 jalapeños

12 jumbo shrimp, deveined and butterflied

14 slices of thin bacon

Monterrey jack cheese

Salt and pepper

Brussel Sprouts

Garlic powder

Seasoning Salt

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Cut 12 one inch, thin slices of Monterrey jack cheese

3. Cut 1 jalapeño into 12 thin strips

4. Place 1 piece of cheese and one strip of jalapeño into the shrimp, wrap with bacon and secure with toothpicks. Refrigerate the completed brochettes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

5. Cook 2 pieces of bacon until crispy. Remove and place paper towel to dry. When cooled, crumble into bits and set aside.

6. Chop one jalapeño and garlic clove into small squares, cook in the bacon grease for 2-3 minutes, drain on paper towel.

7. Cut brussel sprouts in half, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, garlic powder, and seasoning salt and bake for 30 minutes. Top with crumbled bacon when done.

8. Cook grits according to packaged instructions, replacing water with chicken stock.

8. When grits are done, add pepper jack cheese, sharp cheddar, cooked jalapeño and garlic clove.

9. Either grill Shrimp Brochettes until crispy, pan fry, or bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and broil for 5 at the end. (I used a cast iron skilled, but it wasn't necessary. I'd definitely recommend grilling if you can. Or just baking. Or maybe I'm just scared of my cast iron skillet since I almost burnt my hand off.)

10. ENJOY!!! :)