cheese grits

Today’s culinary obsession involves that most delectable of Southern delights: The grit…or, Grits, as one never encounters them in the singular.

Grits are coarse ground hominy (in the case of white grits, the kind one normally finds laying around at the local Piggly-Wiggly) or coarse ground yellow corn, like Polenta only coarser than that. For arguments sake, I will be refering to hominy grits. Hominy…do they sell that north and west of the Mason Dixon like? I don’t know. For those of you in Non-Southern USA realms, hominy is corn that has been dried and then soaked in lye, rinsed well, and served with butter. Kind of a Deep South Vegan Lutefisk. If you can imagine such a thing. It makes great grits.

So, grits, cooked in boiling water with what would seem to be an unreasonable amount of salt and butter, is a fabulous foundation for more complicated savory dishes. Yes, savory. Grits is NOT cream of wheat with sugar on top, or oatmeal with a spoonful of plum jam. One does not sugar one’s grits.It is not to be borne. Don’t go telling me how tasty grits are with butter, milk and brown sugar for you will lose all credibility with me.

Here is a tasty grits recipe. Go to any potluck at the Baptist Church and Miss Lucille will have brought a crock pot full of her famous and tasty cheese grits, and you will fight to be first in line because she never brings enough.

Cheese Grits

3 cups water
1-12 oz can evaporated milk
1 cup long-cooking or 5 minute grits (NOT Instant! Sacrilege!)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
very generous pinch of your favorite red pepper. Use paprika if you don’t want heat, use cayenne if you do, or both for a richer flavor.
Bring the water and milk to a boil and sloooooowwwwwly stir in the grits. Add the spices. Turn the heat down to simmer and put the lid on it. Let cook 15 minutes, stirring often. I use a whisk to stir, as it tends to lump. Do not fear the lump, just use a whisk. If it starts to get too thick, add a dab of water, about 1/4 cup at a time, until it’s not so thick but not runny either. You need to scoop it with a spoon, but not so thick the spoon stands up in it.

Now, once it’s cooked,
Add:
a very generous handful of sharp cheddar cheese (or, if you like, 5 slices of American cheese, or a 3 inch slab of Velveeta. Each method has it’s merits)
several shots of your favorite hot sauce. I like tabasco and tabasco green.
Stir well so the cheese melts. Serve with salt (it’s hard to salt grits too much) and a bottle of hot sauce.