Garlic-Basted Chicken

Many folks insist that garlic is “good for what ails you.”  I know that it’s good for flavoring chicken, especially when combined with the subtle hop overtones from beer.

Chicken was definitely made for the grill but, with its mild neutral flavor it needs a little boost and that is why it is so nice to baste it.  The basting not only keeps the chicken moist, it flavors the poultry with something extra.

This dish brought rave reviews from Bill!  Of course, he grilled it but, I delivered the sauce for basting!  The melted butter with the garlic, beer and other flavors resulted in flavorful, very moist chicken. And it requires no marinating for hours!

So, start grilling and kick your chicken up a notch with this tasty recipe ~ it’s really delicious!

Garlic-Basted Chicken

Ingredients:

3 whole chicken breasts or 6 whole chicken legs, thighs attached

½ cup butter

5 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup onions, chopped

1 cup dark beer

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon McCormick’s Seasoned Pepper

Method:

Rinse chicken, pat dry.

Melt butter in skillet or small pan over medium heat.

Add garlic and onion.

Cook, stirring occasionally until onion is soft.

Add beer, bring to a boil, stirring.

Remove from heat.

Stir in parsley, salt and pepper.

Pour into a large bowl.

Turn chicken in butter mixture to coat.

Lift out and drain briefly.

Reserve butter mixture.

Place chicken on grill and cook, turning and basting frequently until meat is no longer pink.

Serve

If you live for the grill, you have to try this!

Sautéed Shrimp over Creamy Grits

I first had this dish in Savannah, Georgia and this is as close to it as I can get. 

Even though it is a traditional Southern dish, it is extraordinary to this Midwestern girl.  How wonderful it would be to live along the Southern coastline ~ do some fishing, go home and cook up a little shrimp fresh from the water and serve it over creamy grits!

Shrimp and grits is an easy recipe.  Just have all the prep work done before you begin.  Then it will be a snap to cook up the dish.  And, you can even make the grits a little bit ahead of time as they will stay hot for a while.

This is one of the most satisfying grits dishes!  I could eat grits with just about anything ~ especially shrimp. 

Sautéed Shrimp over Creamy Grits

For the grits: 

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups water

1 ½ cups hot chicken or vegetable stock

¼ cup butter

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup stone-ground grits

Method:

In large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cream, water and hot stock, bring to a boil.

Add butter, salt and pepper.

Add grits slowly, stirring constantly, scrapping the bottom of the pan.

Reduce heat to medium-low.

Cook for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally so that they do not scorch.

The grits should have absorbed all the liquid and be soft.

If they are too thick, add a little water or warm stock. 

For the shrimp:

Ingredients:

1 pound raw shrimp
6-8 bacon slices

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon paprika

Hot sauce, optional

4 ounces amber beer

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Method:

Place shrimp on a plate and season with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning and paprika.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, fry bacon until nearly crisp.

When cooled, crumble into pieces.  Set aside.

Reserve 2-3 tablespoons bacon grease in the skillet.

Add onion, garlic and bell pepper, sautéing about 3-4 minutes.

Slowly add beer and Worcestershire sauce; cook down until onion is transparent and peppers are cooked about 10-12 minutes.

Add shrimp mixture and crumbled bacon.

Sauté 5-7 minutes until shrimp are opaque in center (cut to test).

Remove from heat.

Spoon hot grits onto serving plate; top with shrimp mixture.

Enjoy!