Trying To Convert a Grits Hater With Recipe from Big Bad Breakfast
I'm a big fan of grits. But I hardly ever get to make them at home because my husband is confirmed hash browns kind of guy.
Still, that hasn't stopped me from trying to convert him to the savory mush. Which I recently learned differs from polenta by the size of the grain. Maybe this is obvious, but grits are a finer grind than polenta. Another no-brainer worth restating: No, grits are not Cream of Wheat.
Actually, this Southern staple's star is rising as shrimp and grits starts showing up on menus around the country. A most welcome development.
But back to breakfast. While on a recent trip to Oxford, Miss., I tasted a grits dish that I was sure would win over my corn-tankerous soul mate. It was a golden wedge of goodness known as a grit cake, featured on the menu at Big Bad Breakfast, owned by James Beard Foundation award-winning chef John Currence.
The first morning I tried them -- with an order of tomato gravy, andouille sausage and herb biscuit -- it turned out to be the debut of this dish. They're made with grits that are prepared, poured into a pan, chilled, cut and deep-fried.
As soon as I returned from my trip, I started experimenting. I made the grits according to the directions on the Albers Quick Grits package. (Yes, I wish I could buy Anson Mills grits or Delta Grind grits in Seattle, but I have yet to find them anywhere. Not yet.) To the prepared grits, I added half a pint of cream, 2 cups of shredded pepperjack cheese and six dashes of Tabasco sauce to the six-serving portion. This worked as a dual purpose dish, as I took a little more than half of it to a potluck (where it was well-received as cheese-y grits) and poured the rest in a 8-inch square pan.
Those leftovers were later cut into triangles -- though mine didn't look anywhere near as pretty as those I was trying to emulate at Big Bad Breakfast -- and pan-fried. I just used a little canola oil spray in my cast iron skillet.
And you know what? Mr. No Grits changed his tune. He's a grits believer! Now, if I could only turn him around on polenta.
-- Leslie Kelly
Brad Thomas Parsons on November 18, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Leslie:
Anson Mills grits rock. The Lee Bros. turned me on Guilford Mill stone-ground grits from North Carolina. And this year I discovered, via John Besh, the glory of McEwan & Sons stone-ground grits and cornmeal out of Alabama. But you'll need to special order both online as you can't get them in Seattle.
--BTP
Western Reader on November 19, 2009 at 07:10 AM
Ah, Leslie...you've come a long way, and so has your formerly-grits-hating hubby. My mom was born and raised in Alabama; when she married and moved to Wisconsin, she brought her love of southern food with her. We were raised on grits, black-eyed peas, ham hocks, collard greens, sweet potato pie, and red-eye gravy. Dad loved it all. My hubby (also from Wisconsin) served in the Navy and was served grits regularly...under-cooked, from the way he described them. To this day he'll "suffer" through a meal with grits, but he doesn't like them. And frying cold slices of grits...that was another way Mom would serve leftover grits, except she fried hers in bacon grease (from the container kept on the stove). What memories you've stirred up with me! Mom's been gone since 1988. I sure miss her cooking. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Larry Sheldon on November 19, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I learned (from my mother, from central Mississippi, I expect) mther "grits" means hominy grits, what you describe is "corn meal mush" and isn't grind-specific.
The best cornmeal mush was made from home-ground corn meal which wasn't sifted.
I fake it by mixing a half-bag (2 1/2 pounds) of Hodgson's Mill or Aunt Jemima cornmeal with a pound each of Bob's Read Mill coarse and medium corn meal (some times I find it in the "health foods" section of the store).
I use that mixture for cornbread (you'd think my recipe weird, I'll bet--I don't like corn cake), mush, breading stuff.....
http://www.bobsredmill.com/flours-meals/
(They also have "corn grits/polenta" %^)
http://www.bobsredmill.com/corn-grits_polenta.html