Cooking Class: Shrimp and Grits at Carmi Family Restaurant
Mike King, a graduate of the former Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts, managed six bars and restaurants at Pittsburgh International Airport when the new terminal opened in 1992. Though he admits restaurants are “a rough business,” his goal was always to open his own restaurant.
His wife, Carleen, is a former businesswoman who “grew up cooking” in a huge family that cooked for all major events. “A caterer was unheard of,” she says.
The two began contributing their dishes to family events. Family told friends, who asked if the couple could make dishes for them. Six years ago, Mike King started catering out of a church kitchen. Then Carleen King heard about an unused kitchen space with an adjacent dining room on the North Side next to the Shamrock Inn.
“Through all the dust and dirt, I had a vision,” Mike King says.
That vision became Carmi Family Restaurant on Western Avenue, which opened three years ago. “Carmi” is a mash-up of “Carleen” and “Mike,” but “family” is the key word in the restaurant name, and not just because the Kings say their restaurant is family-friendly. A host of relatives works at the restaurant, including an aunt, cousins, sons, daughters, sisters and a niece. The Kings have six children between them.
“Everybody's connected somehow,” says Mike King, who comes from a line of chefs and cooks. His grandfather was a chef. “I hung out around him. He pretty much taught me everything,” he says. And his parents, Betty and Joseph King, owned Rib and Chicken King in Crafton, where Mike King worked after school.
When Carmi Family Restaurant opened, Mike King started out with a variety of menu items, including Chicken Marsala and some Caribbean specialties.
“But those didn't sell. Soul food became what we were known for,” he says. “It became our thing. So, we embraced it.”
So have customers. Several Steelers are frequent patrons, and the Cincinnati Reds have ordered catered dishes while in town.
Carmi offers three meals a day, six days a week. So diners can feast on the hearty Kings Breakfast, which includes two pancakes, two breakfast meats, three eggs, home fries and grits, all for $10.99. For lunch, patrons can try Chicken and Waffles for $7.99 or Fried Chicken for $8.99. And they can dine on tangy Shrimp and Grits for $9.69 or New York Strip Steak for $16.29. Those who dine in the restaurant are treated to a feast for the ears: a variety of recorded soul, jazz and gospel music selections.
Carmi offers 50-cent “wingies” — one-section chicken wings — on Wednesdays and catfish, either grilled, blackened or fried, on Fridays and Sundays.
Mike King grew up in Chartiers City. Carleen is a North Side native who holds a master's degree in business administration from Point Park University. Now both 43 and living in Crafton, the busy couple postponed their wedding “dozens of times” before marrying a year ago.
They also try to support other families. Each year, they give away meals at Christmas and Thanksgiving to families who, though working, are struggling. The meals feed 10 to 15 and include turkey with all the trimmings, both standard and soulful.
Sandra Fischione Donovan is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.
Shrimp and Grits
One of Carmi Family Restaurant's best sellers is Shrimp and Grits. It's easy to understand its popularity. Though grits are a mainstay of soul and Southern cooking, they can be bland, but Mike King's blackened shrimp version is full of spicy flavor.
“It gives the grits a nice kick,” he says of the spice mix. While King makes his own, a trade secret, he says purchased spices will work well in the recipe, too.
For the grits:
4 cups water
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 cup grits
3⁄4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus an additional 1⁄4 cup for garnish
For the shrimp:
1⁄2 cup salted butter
1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
1⁄2 cup onion, diced small
1⁄2 cup sweet green bell pepper, diced small
1 1⁄2 tablespoons blackened seasoning
Cornbread, for serving
To prepare the grits: Heat the water and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until just simmering. Stir the grits into the simmering water. Cook, stirring often, until the grits are tender to the bite and have thickened to the consistency of creamy oatmeal, for about 20 minutes. As the grits thicken, stir more often to keep them from sticking and scorching. When done, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in 3⁄4 cup of the cheddar cheese.
To prepare the shrimp: Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and green pepper. Saute until the onions are transparent. Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp turn firm and pink, for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the blackened seasoning on the shrimp and continue to cook for 1 minute.
To serve: Put 1 cup of prepared grits into each of 4 large bowls. Ladle the shrimp mixture equally on top of each bowl of grits. Garnish with remaining cheddar cheese. Serve with cornbread.
Makes 4 servings.
