Delicious Cheesy Grits & BBQ Shrimp with homemade BBQ sauce!

My sister pointed out to me that I was lacking a cheesy grits recipe on my blog.  Grits, made from a coarse cornmeal, are naturally gluten-free.   I have posted a tasty polenta recipe we love, but cheesy grits are definitely something that needed it's very own recipe!  BBQ shrimp (made either on the BBQ or in the oven if your BBQ is covered in snow) are a perfect accompaniment to fresh, homemade grits.  Served alongside a salad and it's a delicious meal.  Enjoy!

Cheesy Grits and BBQ Shrimp with homemade BBQ sauce, served with salad on the side. Yum! 

Delicious Cheesy Grits & BBQ Shrimp (with homemade BBQ sauce!)
Serves 6

Prepare Homemade BBQ Sauce (can be made in advance and refrigerated up to a week): (or have your own favorite BBQ sauce at the ready)

Cook over medium heat ~ 5 minutes:
2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, diced finely

Add and cook ~1 minute:
2 tsp minced garlic

Mix in:
1 cup tomato sauce
6 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried ground mustard
pinch cloves
salt & pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp of each - adding a little extra pepper at the end)

Simmer over low to medium-low heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  BBQ sauce will thicken as it cooks.  Store in the refrigerator until ready to use, up to 1 week.

My batch of BBQ sauce - a little over 1 1/2 cups after simmering.

Delicious Cheesy Grits
Preheat oven to 425 F or prepare your BBQ to heat (and/or cook) shrimp.

Bring to a boil:
4 cups chicken broth/stock (Asian mushroom seasoning works nicely in lieu of broth/stock)

Add, then lower heat to medium-low to cook:
1 cup grits (I used white grits, but yellow or white are both fine. Just don't use quick-cooking grits).
3/4 tsp garlic powder

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring regularly for 20 minutes. Start cooking shrimp (instructions below) when there are about 5-10 minutes remaining on your grits, so everything finishes at the same time.

After 20 minutes, grits will be tender at this point and the mixture will have thickened.
Remove grits from heat.  Stir in the following:
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbsp milk
1 - 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (sharp cheddar, Mexican cheese blend, cheddar blend)
salt & pepper, to taste (i use more pepper than salt, because of the salt in the butter and cheese)

Serve immediately with BBQ shrimp, below.

Cheesy Grits - Is there a way to take a nice picture of the entire pot?  I'm not sure there is, but they were wonderfully creamy and delicious.

BBQ Shrimp
You can use either the cooked shrimp or raw shrimp (allowing longer cooking time).  I like to use the peeled, deveined, pre-cooked shrimp bought frozen.  I thaw it and then use it as directed below:

Oven:
Spread shrimp on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with BBQ sauce.  Bake at 425 F for about 5-7 minutes, until hot through and BBQ sauce is bubbling nicely.
OR
BBQ:
Skewer shrimps for the BBQ or put them in a BBQ-proof cooking tray.  Heat on the BBQ, brushing a few times with additional sauce, about 5-7 minutes.

Serve with cheesy grits and extra BBQ sauce on the side.  Nice with a big side salad, too!  Enjoy! 

This is a great meal we all enjoy eating.  It's a delicious cold-weather meal, although we'll happily eat it anytime! My sister loves to serve her pulled pork Texas-style on tortillas with dill pickles. We love it!  Usually, unless I've made some tortillas, I just whip together some sort of roll or biscuit to serve with the pulled pork.  The cheddar biscuit-style recipe is *below* for the buns I whipped together here.  They're little biscuits - which the kids loved. The nice thing about this pulled pork recipe is that you make your own BBQ sauce, but you don't have to cook it in advance since it's cooked thoroughly in the crock pot at the same time as the pork.  A nice hearty meal that's also easy to whip together.  If you prefer, you can include the onion and add in a jar of your any BBQ sauce instead of mixing together your own sauce. That will work just as well. Enjoy!

Easy delicious pulled pork, served on homemade little cheddar biscuit-style rolls (recipe below)

Easy Pulled Pork w/ Homemade BBQ Sauce

Serves ~6-8

In a crock pot, mix together quickly (don't worry about mixing it well, it'll combine nicely as it cooks):
1/2 - 1 onion, diced
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup sucanat sugar (or brown sugar)
1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 Tbsp dark molasses
1 Tbsp GF soy sauce
1 Tbsp hot sauce (the spiciness level depends on what kind you use - I used a local habanero sauce which gave it a nice kick)
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 - 1 tsp ground pepper

Add in, mixing so the meat is coated:
2-3 lbs boneless pork loin roast, chopped into a few large pieces (best to remove any large pieces of fat)

If you feel like you need a little more liquid, you can always add a bit of apple cider/juice to the mixture. It'll cook right in nicely. 

Cook on 'high' in your crockpot for 5-6 hours. (You can also cook it on low 10-11 hours). Shred with two forks and let cook another 20-30 minutes on high in the crock pot.

Serve on rolls, biscuits, baked potato, or GF tortillas of your choice and enjoy!!!
(I served these on quick cheese biscuit-style rolls I threw together, recipe below).

Serving ideas/options:
Hamburger buns
Buttermilk biscuits
Homemade corn flour tortillas
Sourdough Rolls

*Easy Biscuit-type Rolls: 
Makes ~30-36 small biscuit rolls

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix together (by hand or in a mixer):
1 1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda

Add and mix in just until combined:
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup grated cheese

Scoop by large cookie scoops onto parchment lined cookie sheets.  Bake at 375F for ~20 minutes, until lightly browned on bottom and just starting to brown on top.  They should puff a bit from the cheese.

Let cool briefly on a cooling rack and enjoy! These are best warmed so the cheese is nice and soft.

Pulled Pork is particularly great on days that look like this:

PEI in winter - Trees coated in ice (thank you frozen fog), multiple feet of snow and a view of the frozen bay near our house. Brrrrrr... 

Easy Pulled Pork with Homemade BBQ Sauce and Gluten-Free Cheese Biscuits by Successfully Gluten Free! 

Baby Back Ribs on the BBQ

These ribs are amazing and SO easy.  I've made them several times now and am constantly amazed by a couple things, 1. how fast they are to BBQ, and 2. how delicious they are.  I based them off a Weber recipe, but I don't bother with the wood chips.  And yet, they are still fantastic! Yay!  You can use whatever your favorite BBQ sauce is, or I've included a recipe for one you can whip together while the ribs are doing their 1 hour cooking time.

Cooking these wrapped in foil eliminates burning and gives a tender meat, but watch closely once you remove from the foil and add the BBQ sauce - the sugars in the sauce on top of the flame are what can burn quickly.

Baby Back Ribs on the BBQ
Based off this recipe by Weber.com  Takes ~1 hour 20 minutes start to finish.
Serves 4-6

You can use whatever BBQ sauce you like, or you can whip up your own while the ribs are doing their 1 hour cook on the BBQ.  I've put my version of an easy BBQ recipe below.*

Preheat your BBQ to medium heat. I aim to ~400F.

Mix together the following to dry rub on the front and back of the ribs:
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp ground pepper

Remove the membrane from the back of 2 racks of baby back ribs (~2 lbs).  These are great, clear picture of how to remove the membrane.

Rub the front and backs of the ribs generously with the dry rub.

Wrap each rack of ribs in their own foil packet.  Then, wrap them again in another foil packet, so they have a good double wrap on them.

Cook the packets on the BBQ directly over the medium heat (with the lid closed) for 1 hour total, turning the rib packets over every 15 minutes so they cook evenly.   Remove from heat.  Take the ribs out of the foil packets, brush with BBQ sauce and return to the grill for 10 minutes.   I like to turn them every 2-3 minutes, basting with extra BBQ sauce for each turn.

Remove from the grill, let rest 5 minutes and ENJOY!!!!

BBQ Sauce Recipe

In a small pot, combine the following over medium heat.  Simmer ~25 minutes.
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp hot sauce (I use a locally made habanero sauce, which adds a nice kick - adjust depending on how spicy you want your sauce).  
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp GF soy sauce (Bragg's works well)
1 Tbsp dark molasses
2 tsp dry mustard
1/3 cup sucanat sugar OR brown sugar
ground pepper, to taste (optional)

Use for any BBQ sauce needs.  You can store the extra in a tupperware in the refrigerator for several weeks.