How y’all doing? My recent cruise through the southeastern United States last week has inspired me to revisit grits. When I was in high school I somehow found out about grits and diligently ate them every morning for breakfast day after blessed day. Not a whole lot has changed…except now I am an oatmeal or oatbran type of gal. It’s been years, I mean YEARS since I had grits until that fateful moment at the Compass Rose breakfast buffet last week. Welcome home, Aura.
Seems like grits is making a comeback in the pages of food magazines (or else I just overlooked them before). I saw mention of grits in two magazines on the roadtrip. One was grits with cheddar and shrimp. The other was grits with a poached egg. Cravings kicked in…last night I picked up a box of grits and went the savory route. I found a recipe on Food & Wine for Cheese Grits…a recipe that the contributor swears has inspired three marriage proposals. Start lining up, boys! A dish that will make your momma proud. My take on the grits was made with extra sharp cheddar cheese and vegetable broth. I served it with some kale, diced red bell pepper, and a poached egg.
Cheddar Grits (adapted from Food & Wine)
- 3-4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup of quick grits
- 4 ounces of extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 and 1/2 cups)
- 2-3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream (optional)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
- In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Add the garlic and slowly stir in the grits. Reduce the heat to moderately low and cook, stirring frequently, until the grits are tender, 5 to 10 minutes (if you use old-fashioned grits it will take about 20 minutes). Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the cheese, butter and cream. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
