Grits have long been a staple of mountain diet along with its sister, food hominy. In old-time mountain parlance, as a matter of fact, you more commonly heard “hominy grits” than just hominy. This isn’t the place to get into the difference between the two, but in some areas the words are used interchangeably. In South Carolina’s Low Country what mountain folks know as hominy is frequently called grits. In truth they are distinctly different in both appearance and taste, but both come from that enduring staple of mountain life, corn.
Although most frequently viewed and served as a breakfast item, grits makes a fine side dish for any meal and can be prepared in a wide variety of ways. Grits make fine leftovers as well.
Before turning to specific recipes, a few general hints about preparing grits might be helpful.
• Although store-bought grits invariably give instructions that suggest the grits may be cooked in water, I prefer whole milk or, for almost sinfully rich grits, half-and-half.
• Once you have the grits and moisture mixture going, pay close heed to your heat. It is all too easy, especially with milk, to let things get too hot and to end up with a scorched mess.
• Whether you use water or milk, once the mix is bubbling, stir like the devil is on your tail determined to ruin your meal.
• While it is perfectly all right to add butter to individual servings, my preference, when a simple pan of grits is being prepared, is to add butter to taste towards the end of the cooking process. That way your final bit of stirring sees that things mix and marry in a most satisfying fashion.
• Keep in mind that grits are a lot like milk-and-flour gravy—once you take them away from the heat they begin to thicken immediately. If you don’t serve promptly you’ll end up with a congealed glob of tasty starch rather than the silky smooth texture I associate with grits done right.
• There’s nothing whatsoever wrong with instant grits, but for my money if you want better texture, more nutritional value, and arguably a bit more distinctive corn taste, go with the slower cooking option. The basic difference is that instant grits are ground much finer. Go with the slow ground, coarser variety, opting for stone grinding just as savvy cooks do with cornmeal.
Fried Grits
When allowed to cool after having been cooked, grits readily congeal. To enjoy fried grits, cook an extra batch when you are having them as a breakfast dish, and place the surplus, while still warm enough to flow, in a baking dish or rectangular cake pan. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use, then cut into serving-size sections. Lightly oil a skillet and fry the grits cakes, turning once. Easy and scrumptious.
Grilled Grits
This option is great if you have an inch or more of grits in the cake pan. Keep cold in the fridge until a half hour before you plan to grill them. Cut the congealed grits into squares or rectangles of 2 inches or more. Carefully place atop a pre-heated grill on mesh or grill mats to avoid having your grit cakes falling into the coals.
Allow the bottom to brown before turning. Turn with a wide spatula to get the whole thing and grill the other side.
If you have other things to finish on the grill before serving, place the grilled grit cakes atop a piece of heavy-duty foil on the edge of the grill to keep hot.
Serve as a starch side with pretty much any main dish of fish or meat.
Grits Casserole
For hearty breakfast eating in wintertime, or for a day where lots of work or physical exertion is in the offing, a grits casserole is mighty fine. This recipe combines three traditional breakfast items—eggs, bacon, and grits—with cheese and onions for some scrumptious eating. The dish can also serve as the main item on a dinner or supper menu, and it enjoys the additional virtue of warming over quite nicely.
Ingredients:
- 10 strips of bacon
- 1 large onion, chopped fine
- Salt to taste
- 1 ½ cups uncooked traditional grits
- 4 ½ cups water
- 3 cups shredded sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 4 large eggs, beaten thoroughly
Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9- x 13-inch casserole dish with Pam or a strip of raw bacon.
Cook the bacon strips on the stove until crisp and set aside atop a paper towel. Drain most of the remaining grease from your skillet. As soon as the bacon strips drain, crumble them and return half to the pan, then mix in the chopped onion. Heat, stirring, until the onion is translucent and softened (3-4 minutes at medium heat). Remove from pan and set aside.
Prepare your grits in a large pan, sprinkling them into your heated water a little at a time, whisking steadily as you go. Continue until the grits thicken, but taste to be sure they’re done. Then remove from the heat and whisk the cheese into the grits until completely blended. Add the beaten eggs, the half and half, the cooked bacon/onion mixture and any drippings left in the pan. Stir together then spoon the mixture evenly into the casserole dish. Bake for 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Garnish with the remaining bacon crumbles.
Grits and Gravy
The prevailing view on food in the high country today is a far cry from the “you’ve got to have gravy” perspective that was once commonplace. The generations of my parents and grandparents would have considered pretty much any breakfast or dinner (normally the main meal of the day) devoid of gravy something of a disaster. Biscuits and gravy of one type or another at breakfast were as common as tonics in the spring or youthful bare feet in the summer.
You simply didn’t start the day without that menu option. Likewise, gravy to pour over cornbread at the dinner table, as a way to stretch a small amount of hamburger into a lot of portions, or the means to turning inferior “dry as a chip” cuts of beef into toothsome juiciness put stars in many a mountain cook’s crown.
While biscuits ranked as the number one focal point of gravy for breakfast, another approach was to make sausage gravy with which to top a bowl of grits. This is simplicity in the kitchen at its best, never mind that some folks always insist that making gravy poses a challenge. It doesn’t once you get the hang of it.
For the sausage gravy to pair with grits, fry sausage that has been well crumbled (you can do this as it fries) in a large skillet until browned. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Use as much of the remaining grease as you feel is needed to make a roux by adding an equal amount of flour and mixing over the heat. Once you have your roux, continue to make the gravy by adding milk and more flour until you have the desired amount.
Put the browned sausage in the gravy, maintaining heat while stirring in the meat, and add a bit of milk to thin, or flour to thicken, if necessary. Serve piping hot atop grits.