Let's talk about grits

[Jenise]

To those of you raised in or living in the American south, grits is (are?, okay, I'm going with plural from here on out, correct me Hoke or Robin if I'm wrong) pretty common food. You can get them with your breakfast in any coffee shop, however gummy and watery-flavored they might be on a short-order hot line. But to most of us not raised in the south, who have to spend $30 to have 5 lbs. of raw stone-ground product shipped to us (yes, that IS what I spent) because it's not a standard pantry item wherever it is we live and IF it exists at all it's only in the form of Quaker Instant, which is the same as nonexistent as far as this thread is concerned, grits are a precious, exotic food.

The first time I ever had grits was with breakfast, at The Court of Two Sisters in New Orleans. I was 19 and had travelled there by myself. The grits didn't come with the fruit plate I ordered, but I saw them included in other dishes and begged for a small bowl so I could taste this famous southern staple. And I loved them. About 20 years later, at Magnolia in Charleston, South Carolina, I had them in their version of the classic Shrimp and Grits. I swooned over that. More recently, a new restaurant in Bellingham whose chef/owner cooked under Emeril at the Commander's Palace in New Orleans, put Shrimp and Grits on his menu as an appie which I've ordered every single time I've eaten there. That's it. All the rest of the grits I've eaten in my life, I made myself.

But, no doubt because of the initial connection, I pretty much only serve them with special breakfasts, a side dish for ham steak and red eye gravy wherein the fond left in the pan from frying a pair of ham steaks in butter is deglazed with some of last night's red wine and a bit of coffee from my cup, and then mounted with more cold butter. A garnish of fresh chives or green onions is mandatory. And until I got this last batch from Anson Mills, my source was a comparatively speaking more processed version I used to buy in Southern California--it was all I could get. And which, though not instant, it, er they, cooked faster with less liquid than this lovely stone-ground stuff does. For the ham breakfast, I have always preferred a non-creamy grit, using chicken broth cut with a bit of water for more flavor but not too much.

Which means that now that we have really cool grits here at Chez J, I'm kind of starting over but in typical-Jenise fashion I did not look at recipes but felt my way through it, starting with the same 4:1 ratio I use for stone-ground polenta. And I cooked them until they seemed done, about 20-25 minutes. But they were a bit too wet, so the next time I made them: 3:1. And that was just about perfect.

So the other day when I decided to make shrimp and grits, I sat down to look at my one book on Southern Cooking, the delightful love story of sorts in which a young white writer, Scott Peacock, documented the cooking of an elderly black woman, Edna Lewis. If you have not read it, you must. So deep was their bond that he ended up moving into her home and caring for her in her last days. And to my shock, I found that he, she, THEY reccomend 6:1 at about an hour and fifteen. So just now I compared the various recipes on Epicurious.com and found the times and amounts all over the place, none less than 4:1 and 45 minutes, except for one calling for yellow corn meal and 15 minutes. They probably just used Alber's. We can disregard that.

So clearly what I'm making is different from the accepted standard. Though I would defy you to look at a picture of what I made Sunday night and tell me you wouldn't eat that. (I can't provide the picture because, though I took one, in editing it I inadvertently deleted it.) The look, on the plate, matches what was served me in that game-changing meal at Magnolia around ten years or so ago, a thick and creamy puddle about 3/4" thick, too creamy to sit up like a mashed potato but sturdy enough to support four large shrimp without oozing to the edges of the plate.

Obviously, the longer they cook the more liquid they need, so the shorter timeline pretty much explains the lower liquid to grit ratio I have arrived at. So, are mine undercooked? My tongue says no. And my husband the southern boy who used to hate grits because all he knew were those flavorless coffee shop versions says no. They're cooked, not crunchy, but what you might call textureful, like a proper risotto or pasta cooked al dente. I might compare this result to the difference between cooking rice with only one cup of water (what I do) where the American standard is two--and the desired result is the so called "fluffy" which is, to my tastes, mushy and dilute in flavor.

So there, that's kind of what I know about grits. I love them. I cook them wrong and I'm unrepentant. Do feel free to inform me, however, what it is I'm missing by not cooking them wetter and longer. I'm all ears.

I love grits- the more coarse, the better but can't say I can really talk about them from experience. I do think of them as I do very coarsly ground yellow corn for polenta and I've never understood the old saw about fining the grains in boiling liquid and stiring till your arm drops off. It's just not necessary.
I put the meal in a heavy bottomed copper pot, gradually add the liquid starting at 1:3 with a pat of butter [ I think this helps to reduce bottom stickiness] then put on very low heat and stir occasionally. I think there is a differnce in timing when the grains are allowed to slowly swell. I judge from there how much more liquid to add after it thickens. The other thing about the low and slow is that it never gets to that point where you have exploding, hot meal all over the stove

I'm sorry if I didn't see a post about where you get your grits but I would like to know your source.

If you're going to talk about how they look, you really should provide us with a picture Jenise.

Anyway. I grew up in Virginia but I don't think I had ever eaten grits when I left for college at 17. I think there was some sort of dynamic where my grandfather (a German from New York who loved deli food) would gently make fun of my grandmother, a Virginian from a country farm, for being TOO southern. So some things were OK -- like Smithfield ham, biscuits, even scrapple. And (I am just surmising here) grits were somehow over the line, too much of something a hick would eat. Then again I don't know that any of my friends ate grits either so maybe it just had to do with the town where I lived. We were very much into seafood especially crabs.

I started deliberately having grits for breakfast when I entered graduate school in Charlottesville VA. I learned that I really liked them, especially with bacon and eggs, or with hash.

I don't remember anything about the proportions but one of the most elegant dishes I've had that involved grits was a recipe in Daniel Boulud's cookbook, where he has you get the long-cooking grits and cook them with cream. This is probably a long wet recipe come to think of it. When they come together they have the most luxurious texture!! You serve them with codfish steaks that have been sauteed, and a sauce made with blood oranges and endive. Really a nice dish.

I've never had expensive stone ground grits...

Good story, and good background on your gritsology. Speaking as a Southern boy, it would always be "grits are". Grits is would be considered redneck ingnernt.

All I can say is, haven't you delved into cheese 'n' grits yet???

Of course that's not all I have to say. We know me too well for that.

I'd say different cooking times/water has to do with what you're using, temp, and time. But also where you're cooking those grits. Different places require different adaptation, I've found.

I'm no help because my mother spoiled us in the grits category. My brother liked them 'runny'---very liquid and smooth. I liked them with a little more texture, more grittiness and somewhat more of a tendency to clump up a bit. Now I love them any way I can get them.

Grits were one of the staples of my family, often for breakfast, but just as often for dinner too. Red Eye Gravy and Grits was common (like what Smithfield hams used to be), as was grits with only butter, sometimes sprinkled with different things, like your chives, or chopped spring onions. Grits with crumbled bacon is great, but may just fall into the "everything is better with bacon." Grits and cheese was big with us...only trouble being some cheeses give you the infinite string effect when you're trying to spoon the stuff into your mouth.

Whoever had a recipe for yellow corn meal and called it grits should be penalized. Might be good,but it ain't grits to me.

Only kind of grits I don't like is cold grits. My mother could eat them, but then she could eat just about anything. They are cold and semi-gelatinous and disgusting...although I had them once in an upscale kind of place where they were served by the slice on the side, cold. Still disgusting, however.

Re shrimp and grits: yes, it is one of the great southern dishes in the world, but for those who lump everything into an indiscriminate Southern Cooking (I know you don't, Jenise), as you move through different areas of the South, the shrimp and grits changes rather markedly. The three predominant styles are Carolinian Low Country/Tidewater (Charleston is a good place for that), Georgia/Alabama/Floridian Coastal, and New Orleans (subdivided there into Creole and Cajun, with the Cajun being tangier of course). The other great dish of grits is the New Orleans Grits and Grillade, either as a hearty hangover breakfast or as a full meal deal later in the day.

Heck, I've even seen some people sub grits for rice or potatoes, using firm cooked grits with a depression in the mound, then spooning in jambalaya or such into it. Tastes good, too.

Robin's Food Letter from over 4 years ago:Uptown shrimp and grits

Ok Jenise, you have me going. I did not grow up in what could be called "The South" I was born in Northern Arkansas, and raised in southern Missouri. We had potatoes almost every meal because we grew our own. I never tasted grits until I had them in a USAF mess hall, and was not impressed.However in the past few years I have learned an appreciation for them, especially as a diet food. The reason being is that they stick to your ribs. For a serving for one, I take a 1/3 cup of grits and use at least a cup and a half of salted water. after they had cooked (stirring constantly) for about 30-40 min (longer if needed) and started to thicken I liked to dump in a Tbs of grated parm. and a good tsp of Mrs Dash seasoning. Eat that and nothing else but zero cal beverage (water) until the evening meal, and then eat what was cooked. Lost 25 pounds in about 3 months. Oh, I did give up wine for that period too. BTW, there is a mill here that makes stone ground white grits and they will ship to you, and for far less than $30 too. Click the link

http://www.weisenberger.com/moreinfo.cf ... OKEN=57745

[David M. Bueker]

Cheese grits are one of nature's perfect foods. Serve with spicy, grilled shrimp for an uptown take.

Oh how I love cheese grits.

[Jenise]

I'm sorry if I didn't see a post about where you get your grits but I would like to know your source.

What a great tip about starting the pan with butter in it. Will do this next time!

And re my source, nevermind mine, look at Bob Henrick's. Great deal, I think. I know the 5 lb bag I bought cost $15, and the shipping was equal to the price of the grits.

Bob's Red Mill, right here in Clackamas County burb of Portland, has stone ground grits. Never had them but they are in pretty wide distribution.

Also, Chowhound site says Anson Mills Grits are good and are mail order. Never had them either.

[Jenise]

If you're going to talk about how they look, you really should provide us with a picture Jenise.

Did you miss the part where I explained that I photographed the dish, but accidentally deleted it while editing it in Picasso? My camera had already been erased.

The Boulud dish sounds exquisite. Blood orange and endive...hMMM!

You really should try some true stone ground grits sometime. As with most things, the big step up from mass produced to artisinal makes a noticeable difference. It might bring grits back into your life!

Grits are still in my life.

I felt truly blessed when my wife (Vermont girl) offered to make me grits, bacon, and eggs for a weekend breakfast.

Perhaps I can type in the Boulud recipe. It's one I have repeated several times, especially when the stores are full of blood oranges.

Will have to consider finding the fancy version of grits.

PS make more grits, take a picture, and post it!!

Tonight's dinner was a very delicious polenta with fontina, sage, and hazelnuts. Does that count.

Tonight's dinner was a very delicious polenta with fontina, sage, and hazelnuts. Does that count.

Not really but it is close!

I love grits, usually with butter, bacon, eggs and cheddar cheese. Parmesan cheese grits aren't bad either. :)
I once had the good fortune to be visiting a working grist mill somewhere around the Smoky Mtns, and bought a bag of freshly stone-ground grits, still warm from the grinding. I wish I could have cooked a potfull right then and there.
My Dad ate grits all his life; Mom never really had them until she married Dad, and she always ate grits with butter and sugar. Gail eats her grits the same way. But then she likes sugar in her cornbread too. :roll:

Sugar in grits? Wrong!

Deleted photos on a digital camera are not truly deleted. Unless they've been overwritten by new images, they are usually recoverable. (Even formatting the disk doesn't necessarily delete them.)