Grits?

I'm a Southern boy who just happened to have a mid town Manhatten native for a father. My mother was from Cocke county Tennessee...a ridge runner if there was one. Interestiing mix?

I spent every summer on a dude ranch (I worked there) from the time I was eight until I was eighteen. The resident girl campers cooked breakfast and did things to eggs, sausage and bacon that were not to be believed. Therefore I ate ONLY grits for b'fast for ten summers...those girls even screwed up grits at least once a week.

I now usually top grits w/ cheese. I eat them for b'fast about four times a week...actually...no grits...no b'fast.

I am sure that grits are a regional thing. When I am in the north and I discuss grits, folks reel at the thought.

I have spent some time in Hawaii and the folks there get into taro. I felt the same way that the folks in the north do.

I am sure that you have to get use to what you are raised. I am sure glad I was raised on grits and not taro.

I also notice that when i am in the north, folks there really get into oatmeal. It makes me think of glutinious stuff but they really like it. Again, it is a regional thing.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

All I know is I wish us northerners would like them more...very few restaurants serve them here and i love them!

quote:

Originally posted by annpeeples

All I know is I wish us northerners would like them more...very few restaurants serve them here and i love them!

When I was in Maine (Portland area)..The Denny's had them on their menu.
I was in heaven.

Hi!

Just curious: does anyone have any opinions one way or the other about white grits "versus" yellow grits? I grew up with white grits, but have never had yellow grits.

Both just as good. No flavor difference, IMO. Yellow corn vs. White corn, etc.

Welcome to RF, BTW!!!

Thanks!

I grew up with white grits, and have always loved them. Now as an adult both yellow and white are equally deeelisssshhhussss!!

Just no sugar on them (BLECK)

quote:

Originally posted by roossy90

quote:

Originally posted by annpeeples

All I know is I wish us northerners would like them more...very few restaurants serve them here and i love them!

When I was in Maine (Portland area)..The Denny's had them on their menu.
I was in heaven.

Denny's grits?
I would be leary.

I'm about as far from the south as you can get and still be in the contiguous US, and I don't know where I first had them, but I love grits. Last Thanksgiving, after I got the call from the current host to bring my usual three kinds of homemade rolls and some mashed sweet potatoes with pecans, I hung up the phone and thought I must be getting old: even though it only comes once a year, the usual Thanksgiving menu sounded boring.

In addition to what I'd been asked to bring, I made a big bowl of shrimp and cheese grits. The look on my inlaws' faces when they beheld the interloper dish on the buffet: priceless! But when I went to help wash up after the meal, the grits dish was completely empty. You just can't argue with buttery, cheesy, garlicky shrimp grits!

peachpie

I am coming to turkey day at your house!!!!

I try and insert a southern dish at my turkey day celebration and you would have think the president cut the cheese when they look at a southern dish.

I did a turduchen 2 years ago, boy was that a mistake. They finally have accpeted the deep fried turkey tho.

I think cheesy shrimp grits is going to be on my menu this year, I was thinking about jambalya, but the grits sounds really good.

peachpie,
please give us the recipe!!!

peachpie

What's your reecipe for shrimpie cheese or cheesie shrimp (Or whatever you call them)grits?

http://www.gumbopages.com/food/seafood/crooks-shrimpgrits.html

quote:

Originally posted by cajunking

I grew up with white grits, and have always loved them. Now as an adult both yellow and white are equally deeelisssshhhussss!!

Just no sugar on them (BLECK)

Sugar
A BLASPHEMY!!!

I Love GRITS, and I love grits
Girls
Raised
In
The
South

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator

quote:

Originally posted by cajunking

I grew up with white grits, and have always loved them. Now as an adult both yellow and white are equally deeelisssshhhussss!!

Just no sugar on them (BLECK)

Sugar
A BLASPHEMY!!!

Butter, S&P..
NO SUGAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you serve them with? Especially if good seafood is readily available and cost-prohibitive. We'd like to make them for dinner, but with what?

I mean besides breakfast food, like eggs or fried ham (salt problems).

We eat grits like mashed taters

cheese grits are great too as a side dish for dinner

quote:

Originally posted by Pwingsx

What do you serve them with? Especially if good seafood is readily available and cost-prohibitive. We'd like to make them for dinner, but with what?

If you Google "Grits Recipes", You'll get all kinds of recipes. "GRITS-----The're not just for Breakfast anymore!"

Oh, I want to make cheese grits. I finally had some the other week and I just loved them. I just didn't know what to serve them with. My family doesn't much care for seafood. I was wondering, hey, maybe with grilled pork steaks, how does that sound?

Sounds good to me when is dinner??

basically anywhere mashed potatoes could go grits will work too.

GRITS - or as I like to say "Grandmothers Raised In The South"

RE: yellow vs. white grits
I grew up with white grits (Alber's). The box today seems to be about half the size I remember and doesn't last nearly long enough. So, now I buy them from the bulk bin at Henry's. But, they only carry the yellow.
Doesn't much matter, by the time I finish putting butter on them, the white ones are pretty much yellow anyway!

lol
I was thinking the same thing

time all the other stuff gets added you cant tell what color the grits were

i am having my cousin bring some grits up from N.C.so i can make them at home.Any suggestions on the best packaged grits from there???

quote:

Originally posted by annpeeples

i am having my cousin bring some grits up from N.C.so i can make them at home.Any suggestions on the best packaged grits from there???

Any "local" brand should be given preference, as long as they are stone ground. Other than that, a national brand will probably suffice for you grits newbies. Martha White is a good brand, but there are others. It's pretty hard to screw up grits, IMO. Stay away from quick cooking types, though.

Thanks,Adjudicator-I will have her bring stone ground.I am a newbie at cooking them, but not eating them!!!

I don't know if I like them. I don't think I've ever been anywhere where a first rate example was being fixed.

What I'd like, though, is a brief synopsis describing the differences between the various dishes made from ground corn, like polenta, grits and farina, if that applies. By the way, has farina fallen out of favor? My Mom made it for me practically every day for breakfast for years.

In any case, at the first available opportunity, I'd like to try grits prepared really right.

The Bear

Grits? Manna! Ambrosia!

Stone-ground, of course, from any of the sources mentioned. Yellow grits are sometimes called "Yankee grits," but I don't know why. Anyhow, I cook 'em for a longer time than the directions say, until they're halfway between creamy and al dente, using well-salted ½ milk and ½ water as the liquid. S & P, unsalted butter for seasoning; garlic optional but always fresh, never powdered, dried, or that nasty refrigerated stuff.

And I just found the following at something called flickr.com:

1. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
2. Thou shalt not eat Yankee Grits made by Quakers.
3. Thou shalt not eat Cream of Wheat and call it Grits for this is blasphemy.
4. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors Grits.
5. Thou shalt only use Salt, Butter and Cheese as toppings for thy Grits.
6. Thou shalt not eat Instant Grits.
7. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
8. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
9. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
10. Thou shalt not put sugar on thy Grits neither.

lest

• thou be cast down into the land of the Yankees called Florida, where thou shalt toil in long lines of traffic caused by confused blue-haired drivers of giant Winnebagos; and
• thou shalt stand in long lines at the grocery store where there is much complaining and gnashing of false teeth, because it is not NJ, NY, or 1935, or coupon day; and
• thou shalt try to vote, but be too feeble to pull the lever, and too senile to remember for whom you have voted.

So shall it be written, so shall it be done.

AMEN !!!

quote:

Originally posted by Rick F.

Grits? Manna! Ambrosia!

Stone-ground, of course, from any of the sources mentioned. Yellow grits are sometimes called "Yankee grits," but I don't know why. Anyhow, I cook 'em for a longer time than the directions say, until they're halfway between creamy and al dente, using well-salted ½ milk and ½ water as the liquid. S & P, unsalted butter for seasoning; garlic optional but always fresh, never powdered, dried, or that nasty refrigerated stuff.

And I just found the following at something called flickr.com:

1. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
2. Thou shalt not eat Yankee Grits made by Quakers.
3. Thou shalt not eat Cream of Wheat and call it Grits for this is blasphemy.
4. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors Grits.
5. Thou shalt only use Salt, Butter and Cheese as toppings for thy Grits.
6. Thou shalt not eat Instant Grits.
7. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
8. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
9. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
10. Thou shalt not put sugar on thy Grits neither.

lest

• thou be cast down into the land of the Yankees called Florida, where thou shalt toil in long lines of traffic caused by confused blue-haired drivers of giant Winnebagos; and
• thou shalt stand in long lines at the grocery store where there is much complaining and gnashing of false teeth, because it is not NJ, NY, or 1935, or coupon day; and
• thou shalt try to vote, but be too feeble to pull the lever, and too senile to remember for whom you have voted.

So shall it be written, so shall it be done.

Rule # 11
Thou shall not confuse North FL with South FL.
North FL IE: The Panhandle, AKA "The Redneck Riveria" and "LA" (Lower Alabama),is populated by brotheren from the South. Redneck is spoken here and they know their grits. By Redneck Man Law, those unpure ones from the South are not permitted to venture north of Gainesville.

quote:

Originally posted by Foodbme
Rule # 11
Thou shall not confuse North FL with South FL.
North FL IE: The Panhandle, AKA "The Redneck Riveria" and "LA" (Lower Alabama),is populated by brotheren from the South. Redneck is spoken here and they know their grits. By Redneck Man Law, those unpure ones from the South are not permitted to venture north of Gainesville.

I stand corrected, sir, and am indeed appreciative.

rule 11 goes for jersey too.
NEVER confuse south jersey with north joisey.

Southern Fried Grits:

Blackened Catfish 'n Grits:

Comment: Does anyone see the egg(s) in this photo?

OOOOh Look. Mushrooms too...

Grillades and Grits:

Gorgonzola Grit Cakes

3 cups water
1 cup water (stone) ground grits (not instant!)
1 tsp. salt
3 oz. gorgonzola, crumbled
1 egg, beaten
flour for dredging
2-3 TB. vegetable oil

1. Bring water to a boil. Add salt and grits and lower heat. Cook until thick, stirring constantly, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in egg and gorgonzola, stirring until cheese is melted and well combined.
2. Pour grits into 8" cake pan (round is better). Cool in pan and then refrigerate uncovered until completely set, at least an hour after cool.
3. With a 2-1/2" round cutter, carefully cut grits into 6 rounds and remove from pan. Dredge rounds in flour.
4. Heat oil in large skillet until hot. Pan-fry grit cakes until golden, about 2 minutes each side. Serve immediately.

**Make sure that the oil is hot enough before frying or the grits will begin to fall apart before browning.

Makes 6 grit cakes.

After reading about grits all day, I broke down this evening and ate. . . . Grits! Specifically, dinner was stone-ground white grits salted and peppered, with sweet creamery butter from a farm in North Carolina; smoked sausage from [url='http://www.poches.com/']Poche's[/url] in Breaux Bridge; and, from my freezer, cooked-forever green beans and potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, ham, and a touch of vinegar. Yum!

A bowl of hot buttered grits, two slices of toast & a glass of orange juice -
that gets my day started off right!

And as Adjudicator knows (and mentioned in another post), when you're passing
through the Florida Panhandle, pick up a few bags of Hoover's Mill (water-fed)
Grits & Corn Meal (my sister took home a few bags back to Chicago!)

Oh my Goad, Adj, those photos are absolutely mouth-watering.

truly tempting photos.

This thread needs a food porn warning!

I've always enjoyed grits with just butter and pepper, but now I'm going to have to make the gorgonzola grits cakes (and the shrimp one). Yum! You wouldn't have the recipe for that one, too, by any chance?

Today's "Restaurant of the Day" is The Coffee Cup in Pensacola, FL. I lived in Pensacola for 16 years and can report this is a great place. I left there 6 years ago and on numerous occasions considered buying a plane ticket and flying back there from Phoenix just to have breakfast! The Nassau Grits are unique and I've never seen them served anywhere else. The omlets float from the grill to your table. The Grill Chef ( She's more than just a cook), Creola, has been there over 20 years and the girl does magic on her little grill without ever looking at an order. I loved to sit at the counter, in awe, and watch her do her thing. The Waitresses call the orders out like at Waffle House. I've seen her keep 20 orders going at once without a mistake on any of them. If you're anywhere near Pensacola, this is a "must stop". Their Cinnamon Rolls and Pies are outstanding too!

quote:

Originally posted by rmcielwain


A bowl of hot buttered grits, two slices of toast & a glass of orange juice -
that gets my day started off right!

And as Adjudicator knows (and mentioned in another post), when you're passing
through the Florida Panhandle, pick up a few bags of Hoover's Mill (water-fed)
Grits & Corn Meal (my sister took home a few bags back to Chicago!)

Just found out my local Wally World carries Hoover's so I stocked up.

I just read all the praise for Hoover's grits. Their web site shows only fine-ground; doesn't that affect the flavor?

quote:

Originally posted by Rick F.

I just read all the praise for Hoover's grits. Their web site shows only fine-ground; doesn't that affect the flavor?

You bet it does. Tastes much better. Most Southern grits ARE fine ground. Remember same expands at least 4X size when cooked... Don't confuse "fine-ground" with stuff such as flour or cream-of-wheat consistency products. The secret behind good grits is to get the "regular" cooking grits; not instant (god-forbid) or even the "quick-cooking" varieties. Properly cooked grits should be smooth but not runny; this takes time and a bit of patience to do right.

As far as the pictures I posted. Well that was nice. A true grits junkie such as I don't need all of that added "luggage", but only a lot of butter, salt, 'n pepper to make it right. Of course, a couple or three/four SS up aigs and a mess o' bacon and/or sausige makes it jist dang tasty. Biskits an jam r an added bonus. Don't ferget the frash orange juce to make the meal rite!

...Ahem.... Please excuse me. My alter ego did have a grip on me for a while, but I am bak back now...

Signing off now from South Southern Gawja. ...

GRITS RECIPE DU JOUR-
(For all you Rednecks out there, Du Jour is French for Du Jour)
GRITS-TOPHER COLUMBUS HERB GRITS
1 C Grits
4 C Water
1 1/2 Tsp Salt
2 TBSP Butter
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 Tsp each of Oregano, Basil, Marjoram
1 Tsp each Garlic Powder & Onion Powder
1/ C Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook the grits with Salt Water.You know the drill. Add everything else. Stir & Serve
VARIATION: Pour Mixture into a 9x13 pan, chill at least 4 hrs or overnite. Cut into 2 inch squares. Fry grits in a little bit of butter wntil crispy on both sides and serve with a warm Marinara Sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Here's a web site for
PUTTTIN' A LITTLE "SOUTH IN YOUR MOUTH."

http://www.gritsbits.com

Oh, such a delicious discussion. Only, why in the breakfast cereal section?????
I am a G.R.I.T.S. and I LOVE grits.