Lowcountry Shrimp and Grits

From the garden

• 1 cup dry dent corn, shelled off the cob · grinds to roughly 1 cup of coarse grits; a bag of stone-ground grits stands in
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 green onions, sliced, whites and greens kept apart
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

From the pantry

• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into strips
• 2 cups whole milk · the grits cook in equal parts milk and water
• 4 oz sharp cheddar, grated
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 lemon · juice only, added off the heat
• hot sauce · passed at the table
• salt · to taste
• black pepper

1. Sort the dry kernels before milling and throw out anything moldy or discolored, because mold on stored grain can carry mycotoxins and no amount of cooking fixes it. Grind the sound corn to the texture of coarse sand and sift off the finest flour so the grits stay distinct.
2. Bring the milk and 2 cups of water to a bare simmer with a good pinch of salt, then rain in the grits while whisking. Cook on the lowest heat 40 to 45 minutes, stirring every few minutes and adding hot water whenever the pot tightens.
3. Render the bacon in a cold skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes, then lift it out with a slotted spoon and leave every drop of fat in the pan. Pat the shrimp dry and season with salt and pepper.
4. Sear the shrimp in that fat in one uncrowded layer over medium-high heat, about 90 seconds a side, until pink and just opaque through. Add the garlic and the green onion whites for the last 30 seconds, pull the pan off the heat, and squeeze in the lemon.
5. Beat the butter and the grated cheddar into the grits off the heat, then taste hard for salt, since coarse grits swallow more than seems reasonable. Loosen with hot water until they fall slowly from the spoon.
6. Spoon the grits into wide bowls, pile the shrimp and pan juices over them, and scatter the bacon, green onion tops, and parsley across the top. Pass hot sauce and black pepper at the table.