The fried softshell crab and grits I had for lunch at Brennan’s of Houston the other day raises the bar in the seafood and grits competition. The softshell crab was extra crispy and very juicy, the stoneground grits were excellent and the pool of gravy surrounding the whole thing didn’t hurt any either. Wow! If they have his on the brunch menu this weekend, you better order it.
I thought I was being pretty damn clever last summer when lobster got cheap and I served lobster and saffron grits with Veuve Clicquot champagne at a dinner party. But I like softshell crab and grits even better.
There’s a recipe for softshell crab and jalapeño cheese grits in John Besh’s cookbook, My New Orleans, so I guess the combination has been around. It’s an evolution on shrimp and grits and catfish and grits–old Southern combos traditionally eaten for breakfast with crispy bacon.
Thank the lord that underwater oil gusher has been at least partially capped. Next week we’ll do a Gulf seafood appreciation thing and I’ll share a couple of recipes for shrimp grits, so stay tuned.