Kiss My Grits

I love grits.  Big surprise, right?  And I’ve figured out why the rest of the world doesn’t love grits like we do in the South.  There is a grand conspiracy by some underground Southern militant operation to keep grits in the South.

Oh yeah, you heard me.

Why? Because they’re conspiracy theorists which means they’re paranoid which means they’re afraid of a freaking grits shortage.

Example #1:  Manufacturers are putting bad information out there about how to prepare them.

You can’t cook grits in five minutes.  You can’t cook them in ten minutes.  You might be able to get away with cooking Quick Grits for twenty minutes, but you won’t be winning any awards with the results.

I don’t care what your package says.  You need to cook grits for an hour.  Period.

Example #2:  Major restaurant chains are serving crappy grits.

The militants have infiltrated major restaurant chains and are having their people purposefully cook them wrong so that visitors will take one taste, set their fork down and never try them again.

Southerners, when was the last time you ate an awesome bowl of grits at a chain restaurant?  Never, right?  My biggest complaints are a) the grits have no taste and b) they’re not cooked long enough.  It’s like eating mealy hot water.

Now, all that being said, there are a few different ways to cook grits depending on what you’re doing with them.  We usually get pretty basic with the breakfast variety grits and then get jazzier if the grits are being served as part of an entrée.

I’m going to give you four varieties.

Basic Grits

3 cups water

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grits*

Bring the water, butter and salt to a boil.  Whisk in grits, return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for one hour.  You will need to whisk the grits about every 10 minutes or so to keep them from clumping together and sticking to the bottom of your pan.  Add more salt to taste.

Creamy Grits

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups milk

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grits*

Bring the water, milk, butter and salt to a boil.  Whisk in grits, return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for one hour.  You will need to whisk the grits about every 10 minutes or so to keep them from clumping together and sticking to the bottom of your pan.  Add more salt to taste.

Savory Grits

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups milk

4 tablespoons butter

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grits*

Bring the chicken stock, milk, butter and salt to a boil.  Whisk in grits, return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for one hour.  You will need to whisk the grits about every 10 minutes or so to keep them from clumping together and sticking to the bottom of your pan.  Add more salt to taste.

Cheese Grits

1 1/2 cups chicken stock or water

1 1/2 cups milk

4 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grits*

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Bring the chicken stock (or water), milk, butter and salt to a boil.  Whisk in grits, return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 50 minutes.  Add shredded cheddar cheese and whisk until melted; continue cooking for 10 minutes.  You will need to whisk the grits about every 10 minutes or so to keep them from clumping together and sticking to the bottom of your pan. Add more salt to taste.

*Depending on which type of grits you have (quick-cook, stone ground, yellow, etc.), the liquid to grits ratio will vary.  Measure the liquid and grits per the manufacturer’s instructions.  

PRINTABLE RECIPE