Bobby Flay's Throwdown! (32 page)

4.
Stir the cheese and heavy cream into the cooked grits, and whisk until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

5.
Divide the grits among 4 bowls, and top each with 5 shrimp. Drizzle with some of the garlic oil from the skillet, and sprinkle with the green onions.

SERVES 4

1.
To make the sauce,
melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, and stir in the flour. Cook, stirring with a wooden spatula, until the roux reaches a medium-tan color, at least 8 minutes. Slowly whisk in the stock and heavy cream. Bring to a boil, whisking, and cook until the sauce has thickened and coats the back of the spoon, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Taste for seasoning and keep warm.

2.
To cook the grits,
combine the butter and stock in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the grits and simmer, whisking frequently, for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, cream, and cheese. Keep whisking for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the grits become creamy. Keep warm. Season with salt to taste.

3.
To cook the shrimp,
combine the Cajun seasoning, paprika, Italian seasoning, and pepper to taste in a bowl. Season the shrimp with the seasoning mix. Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and cook until just cooked through, about 1½ minutes per side. Transfer the shrimp to a plate, and stir the pan drippings into the sauce.

4.
To serve, place a few heaping spoonfuls of grits onto each plate, top with several sizzling shrimp, drizzle with the sauce, and top with a few cubes of country ham.

Demo version limitation

Demo version limitation

Names: Matt and Ted Lee
Hometown: Charleston, South Carolina, and New York, New York
Website:
www.boiledpeanuts.com

We traveled up and down the Eastern Seaboard looking for the mysterious dish called country captain, a stew made with chicken, vegetables, tomatoes, and curry powder. When made properly, it is the perfect combination of sweet and savory.

Charleston, South Carolina, natives Matt and Ted Lee are food writers for publications such as
Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, GQ,
and the
New York Times
as well as the proprietors of the Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, your online stop for hard-to-find southern ingredients. Oh, and they also happen to have written two acclaimed cookbooks—wow. These food-loving brothers are fiercely dedicated to preserving the food ways of the American South.

Matt and Ted thought that they were going to be featured on a Food Network special called “Low Country Lowdown.” Its focus would have been right up their alley—shining a light on down-home dishes that only real southerners know. My mission: get the lowdown on Matt and Ted’s authentic country captain and cook up my own pot of this country staple.

To find out just what country captain was, I turned to Marvin Woods, a serious Low Country cuisine expert. He told me it’s a stewed chicken dish with curry. Why curry? The dish was created by the folks who settled in the Charleston-Savannah area, among them people of Indian, Asian, and French descent. Country captain is a reflection of the amazing convergence of tastes in that area.

I headed to the test kitchen, where my strategy was to make my own curry powder blend. Because country captain is a southern classic, there has to be a pork product in it, and I opted for bacon for a smoky flavor. I added onions, red bell peppers, raisins (which I later swapped out for currants) for sweetness, and toasted almonds for crunch. Like a lot of curry recipes, coconut is often used as an accoutrement to finish off the dish. I decided to incorporate that coconut flavor into the rice that is always served with this dish to absorb the flavor of the stew. I went with chicken thighs, which would remain tender when stewed (they really do have to be skinless, as the skin tends to turn flabby when braised).

I was off to the Throwdown with my three C’s: coconut, curry, and currants. After blindsiding Matt and Ted Lee with my Throwdown challenge on the Hudson, we got down to some serious cooking and eating. Judges Hunter Lewis, the test kitchen director of
Saveur
magazine, and chef, restaurateur, and Low Country cooking expert Alexander Smalls came in to rate our dishes on their taste, authenticity, and balance of flavor.

My country captain was up first. Hunter and Alexander loved the sweet flavor of the rice but felt it could have been fluffier. They said my chicken was perfectly cooked and the sauce full-flavored. They moved on to Matt and Ted’s dish, saying they got more curry flavor and heat. They liked the chunkier texture of their sauce but felt it could have been a little thinner in consistency. The judges really liked both of our dishes but felt the balance of flavor and the authenticity of the dish was better represented in Matt and Ted’s version, awarding the win to the brothers. Matt and Ted have been friends of mine for years and are excellent cooks. I wouldn’t have expected them to bring anything but their “A” game to this competition—and they did. Their country captain was amazing.