Shrimp & Grits Recipe with Professor Torbert’s Orange Corn

About Professor Torbert’s Orange Corn

Professor Torbert’s Orange Corn is the result of its founder’s lifelong dedication to improving the world through science and agriculture. Over 20 years ago Torbert set out to answer a simple, but revolutionary question: can you naturally make corn more nutritious? Could you deliver the benefits of a vegetable through a grain?

Today, non-GMO Orange Corn is helping fight micronutrient deficiencies in more than 10 African countries. The vibrant orange color comes from significantly increased levels of carotenoids. Torbert decided to see what he could do with it here at home. To his delight, he found that not only could Americans’ eye health potentially benefit from its higher levels of antioxidant carotenoids, but it also tasted unbelievably good.

So, when you choose Professor Torbert’s, you aren’t just saying yes to better flavor, you’re also helping deliver better nutrition on a global scale. Tastes good, feels good.

All of Professor Torbert’s products – grits, corn meal, and corn flour – are non-GMO, gluten-free, and vegan. Professor Torbert’s is not your average corn. It has a nutty, buttery flavor with a creamy texture like no other.

Where To Buy Professor Torbert’s Orange Corn

All products are sold online at professortorberts.com, on Amazon, and wholesale.

Now through the end of November, Professor Torbert’s is happy to offer all Chefs without Restaurants listeners 10% off on all Orange Corn products at professortorberts.com. Simply use the promo code CHEFS10 (that’s chefs one zero) at checkout between now and Nov. 30 to save.

Shrimp & Grits Recipe

This is as classic as it gets: when you hear grits, you think shrimp and grits! This is Professor Torbert’s take on the recipe, hearty and full of flavor. Perfect for a Southern breakfast, or a great meal any time of day!

Ingredients

  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup Professor Torbert’s Orange Corn Grits
  • 1 bay leaf 
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • ½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 4 strips of bacon, diced
  • 1 tbls butter (for cooking)
  • 12-16 fresh large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ½ medium onion, thinly sliced
  • Green bell pepper
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp Worcestershire Sauce (gluten free)
  • Fresh parsley, finely chopped (reserve some for garnish)
  • 2 tsp lemon juice

Method of Preparation

For the Grits:

  1. In a medium pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Add grits and stir. Bring the mixture up to a simmer and add the bay leaf. Cover the pot, reduce the heat, and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes.
  2. Once the grits are ready, stir in the heavy cream, 2 tbls unsalted butter, and cheddar cheese. Remove the bay leaf. Cook until you see your desired consistency. The grits are ready to serve.

For the Shrimp:

  1. While the grits are cooking, fry the bacon in the 1 tablespoon butter in a non-stick pan. 
  2. While the bacon is frying, toss the shrimp in the chili powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, paprika, and salt.
  3. Once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the pan and save it for later, keeping the bacon fat in the pan.
  4. Add the onions and bell peppers to the hot pan, and sauté on medium heat until soft. Add the garlic and cook briefly.
  5. Add the shrimp, and add Worcestershire Sauce, parsley, and lemon juice. Keep the heat at medium, to make sure the garlic does not burn. The shrimp should turn to a white-pink color while they cook, about 3 minutes on each side.
  6. Add the bacon back to the mixture, and heat through briefly.
  7. Transfer grits to a bowl, and top with the shrimp and veggies. Garnish with cayenne pepper and parsley. 

Cooking with the Best Spanish Ingredients

iberico ham from spain

Le Gourmet Central

Today I’m highlighting some of the amazing products available from Le Gourmet Central. They’re an online store that sells world-class gourmet foods and specialty gifts. As a chef, I want to use the best products available, so I’m featuring a couple of the products they have available. They have ingredients from many cuisines, including the three Spanish ingredients I’m highlighting here.

Cinco Jotas Jamon

You can’t have a Spanish charcuterie plate without Jamon. Well, this is some of the best out there. The acorn-fed, 100% Ibérico ham from Cinco Jotas is some of the best I’ve ever had. While I do like to add cured ham to many of my dishes, with a product like this, I prefer to simply eat it by itself with some crostini and a little membrillo quince paste.

Sweet Spanish Paprika

By far, the spice that I use most is Pimentón. This Spanish paprika from El Angel is exclusively produced in the region of Extremadura, Spain, and made from the milling of different varieties of red peppers. While fantastic in traditional Spanish cuisine, I find that it can be incorporated in to almost any dish, especially when you’re looking to add a bit of that wood-fired flavor.

Piquillo Peppers

One of the ingredients I use in my romesco sauce are the Lodosa whole confitted Piquillo peppers by Rosara. The peppers are grilled under wood, peeled one by one by hand before being preserved in whole cane sugar and red wine. They have a sweet but intense peppery flavour and are ideal in snacks, tapas or in recipes where you would use roasted red peppers. If you’re not familiar with Piquillo peppers, you can find more info on the Le Gourmet Central website.

spanish piquillo peppers

Pecan & Piquillo Pepper Romesco Sauce

pimenton smoked paprika from spain

This is not a classic romesco sauce, but my spin on one. It can be argued that there’s no such thing as “authentic” or “traditional” anymore. I like to serve this version Mahon and Grits Croquettes. Let me know if you’re interested in that recipe. If you’d like to learn more about romesco sauce, I talked to Daniel Gritzer of Serious Eats about it on the Chefs Without Restaurants podcast.

Pecan & Piquillo Pepper Romesco Sauce

Pecans, chopped ½ cup

Garlic, chopped 2 cloves

Olive Oil ½ cup

Piquillo Peppers (jarred, drained) 1 cup

Crushed Tomatoes (canned) ½ cup

Sorghum 2 teaspoons

Sherry Vinegar 1 tablespoon

Pimentón 2 teaspoons

Ancho Chile Powder ½ teaspoon

Directions

Heat oil on medium in a medium sized pan. Add pecans and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and pimentón and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.

Add the warm mixture and the remaining ingredients to a food processor.  Blend on medium speed until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the sauce has a slightly smooth texture.

Relevant Links and Where to Learn About Chefs Without Restaurants

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CONNECT WITH US

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SUPPORT US ON PATREON

Get the Chefs Without Restaurants Newsletter
Visit Our Amazon Store (we get paid when you buy stuff)
Connect on Clubhouse
Like our Facebook pag

Join the private Facebook group

Join the conversation on Twitter

Check our Instagram pics

Founder Chris Spear’s personal chef business Perfect Little Bites https://perfectlittlebites.com/

Watch on YouTube

If you want to support the show, our Venmo name is ChefWoRestos and can be found at https://venmo.com/ChefWoRestos. If you enjoy the show, have ever received a job through one of our referrals, have been a guest,  or simply want to help, it would be much appreciated. Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.

Recipe for Watermelon Gazpacho

recipe for watermelon gazpacho
recipe for watermelon gazpacho

About Watermelon Gazpacho

This recipe for Watermelon Gazpacho comes from podcast guest Jonathan Bardzik, and is featured in Jonathan’s new cookbook Simple Summer: a recipe for joy and connection

From Jonathan: “10 years ago watermelon gazpacho became popular and nearly ubiquitous on summer restaurant menus here in the Mid-Atlantic. I often find them disappointing with the watermelon used as savory. Watermelon is a delicious fruit, but a pretty mediocre vegetable. This recipe lets the tomatoes shine with a pinch of salt, while the watermelon stars as a sweet, summer fruit brought out by honey and juiced to add liquid to the soup.”

Recipe for Watermelon Gazpacho

Watermelon gazpacho

Serves 6-8

Of all the recipes in this book, this is the one I am proudest of. I have served it at least 100 times since developing it and every time it garners raves. Salt brings out the tomato, and honey makes the watermelon pop. Leave out the watermelon juice, add some cumin and serve this as a salsa over fried fish tacos!

Ingredients:

4 cups finely diced watermelon plus 2 cups cut in 2” chunks

2 large tomatoes, finely diced, about 2 cups

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 tsp lime zest

2 tbs lime juice

1/2 jalapeño, seeded and minced

2 tbs finely chopped basil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tbs honey

Directions:

Mix together the 4 cups of finely diced watermelon with the tomato, onion lime zest, juice, jalapeño and basil. Stir together.

Press remaining 2 cups of large chunks of watermelon through a food mill or purée in a food processor and strain through a fine sieve to remove solids.

Add watermelon juice, vinegar and honey to soup. Season to taste with salt, pepper and additional honey, if needed.

If you make this soup ahead of time, check the seasoning again before serving. The watermelon and tomatoes will release more moisture and dilute the salt, vinegar and honey.

Relevant Links and Where to Learn About Jonathan Bardzik

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Jonathan Bardzik

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Jonathan’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jonathanbardzik/

Watch Seasons to Taste https://watch.revry.tv/details/35368

Jonathan’s Website https://www.jonathanbardzik.com/
================

CONNECT WITH US

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SUPPORT US ON PATREON

Get the Chefs Without Restaurants Newsletter

Visit Our Amazon Store (we get paid when you buy stuff)

Connect on Clubhouse

Check out our websites (they have different stuff) https://chefswithoutrestaurants.org/ & https://chefswithoutrestaurants.com/

Like our Facebook page

Join the private Facebook group

Join the conversation on Twitter

Check our Instagram pics

Founder Chris Spear’s personal chef business Perfect Little Bites https://perfectlittlebites.com/

Watch on YouTube

If you want to support the show, our Venmo name is ChefWoRestos and can be found at https://venmo.com/ChefWoRestos. If you enjoy the show, have every received a job through one of our referrals, have been a guest, , or simply want to help, it would be much appreciated. Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.

Learn About Eating Insects with Joseph Yoon of Brooklyn Bugs

joseph yoon of brooklyn bugs discusses eating insects
learn about eating insects with joseph yoon of brooklyn bugs

About Joseph Yoon

Do you want to learn about eating insects? On this week’s Chefs Without Restaurants Podcast we have Joseph Yoon. He’s the executive director of Brooklyn Bugs, as well as the chef/owner of Yummy Eats and Dinner Echo. Joseph views his participation in this global food movement as an extension of his commitment to his community, and volunteers his time and resources with both Brooklyn Bugs and Yummy Eats.

learn about eating insects with joseph yoon of brooklyn bugs

About Brooklyn Bugs

Brooklyn Bugs is an advocate for edible insects, and their mission is to raise appreciation and awareness for them through delicious, educational, and creative programming.  Their work has been featured on the Smithsonian Channel, New York Times, NPR, Food and Wine, and Gizmodo, as they strive to introduce edible insects as a sustainable source of protein that can be found in your pantry, eaten as a snack, and beautifully plated by chefs. 

fermented edible scorpions by brooklyn bugs

On This Week’s Podcast

Joseph first got into edible insects as a collaboration with artist Miru Kim. She’s someone he had really wanted to work with, and she was looking to serve insects for people to eat as part of her Phobia/Phagia project.

Besides being a sustainable protein source, in the right hands, insects are also delicious. We discuss a few of the ways that Joseph likes to use them, and we talk about the parallels between eating insects and offal. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about edible insects, this is the podcast episode for you.

edible locusts by brooklyn bugs

Relevant Links and Where to Learn About Eating Insects

Since I know you’ll want to check out the show, you can listen to it on BuzzsproutITunesSpotifyTuneInStitcherAmazon MusicPandora I Heart Radio, and everywhere podcasts are found.

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Joseph Yoon

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Brooklyn Bugs Instagram

The Brooklyn Bugs Website

Brooklyn Bugs Facebook Page

Brooklyn Bugs Twitter

Lots of other links to Joseph’s work

Miru Kim

edible worms by brooklyn bugs

================

CONNECT WITH US

================

SUPPORT US ON PATREON

Get the Chefs Without Restaurants Newsletter

Visit Our Amazon Store (we get paid when you buy stuff)

Connect on Clubhouse

Check out our websites (they have different stuff) https://chefswithoutrestaurants.org/ & https://chefswithoutrestaurants.com/

Like our Facebook page

Join the private Facebook group

Join the conversation on Twitter

Check our Instagram pics

Founder Chris Spear’s personal chef business Perfect Little Bites https://perfectlittlebites.com/

Watch on YouTube

If you want to support the show, our Venmo name is ChefWoRestos and can be found at https://venmo.com/ChefWoRestos. If you enjoy the show, have every received a job through one of our referrals, have been a guest, , or simply want to help, it would be much appreciated. Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.

edible locusts by brooklyn bugs
learn about eating insects with joseph yoon of brooklyn bugs

Get this Recipe for Pizza Dough from Vaughn Tan

pizza dough recipe by vaughn tan of the uncertainty mindset
recipe for pizza dough

About Vaughn Tan

On our recent podcast with author and professor Vaughn Tan of The Uncertainty Mindet, part of our discussion focused on pizza-making. Because Vaughn spent a lot of time last year working on his pizza-making skills, I asked if he could share his recipe for pizza dough. You can learn more about him by listening to our podcast, or checking out his website.

recipe for pizza dough from vaughn tan of the uncertainty mindset

Recipe For Pizza Dough

Leaven

12g water at approx 37°C

12g sourdough starter (right from the fridge is OK)

24g flour (I use a stoneground organic wheat flour)

Mix all ingredients in a glass cup or bowl so you can see when bubbles begin to form. Ferment leaven at 21-23°C. (This leaven recipe makes enough left over to save for starter if you’re using this dough recipe.)

Test leaven for readiness by putting a spoonful of leaven in a bowl of water when you can see many small and medium-sized bubbles through the glass.

Use the leaven to mix your dough when a spoonful floats when put in water. (Waiting a bit is OK.) At the moment, this happens for me in about 2 hours.

Dough (for two 10-11” pizzas)

166g water at approx 37°C

30g leaven

270g flour (currently 200g E5 YQ, 70g Shipton #4)

8g salt

10g olive oil

Warm large glass bowl with hot water—use glass so you can see bubbles forming in the dough. Mix all ingredients in the warm, empty bowl. Leaving patches of flour is OK. Cover bowl (I use a plate) and leave to rest for 15-30 min.

After resting, stretch/fold the dough in the bowl with wet hands (see videos online). It will be sticky and grainy.

Fold dough 5-7 times spaced out over the next 2-3 hours—when you remember to. It should become smoother with each fold, and tear less easily. Using a mixer or kneading instead of folding seems to produce a dough that is harder to stretch evenly.

Ferment dough until many tiny bubbles are visible through the glass even after a fold, and it feels pu‑y and deflates palpably when doing a fold. For me this usually takes 6-8 hours from when I mix, at 21-23°C.

Shape into two balls and refrigerate (covered without contact) for 18-36 hours before making pizza.

Some Notes

Yes, you could probably use dry or fresh yeast. Someone on the internet probably has a dough recipe for that. Sourdough tastes better and seems to make the dough behave better. Why not try that?

Yup, the hydration seems really low. Tried making wetter doughs. They’re harder to work with and they produce pizzas which are—in my opinion—not as delicious. The wetter the dough, the longer it takes to cook. With your already underpowered home oven, do you really want that?

Uh huh, any wheat flour should work here. Modern, very strong wheats will be easiest to work with. The more large bran particles are left in the flour (as in wholemeal flour), the harder the dough will be to stretch thinly and evenly. Spelt always seems to make the pizza tough. Heritage wheats (kamut, einkorn, etc) need experimentation and are probably not ideal to use on their own. The blend shown gives me the balance of flavor, extensibility and elasticity that I want.

Mmhmm, there’s no autolyse period. Tried it, was a pain, didn’t really change flavor or extensibility in any detectable way.

Warning: I am not a professional. I’ve just made and eaten over 100 bad pizzas at home so you don’t have to.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for pizza dough.

recipe for pizza dough from vaughn tan of the uncertainty mindset