Southwestern Grits Casserole
 
Do you know grits? Grits is or Grits are? Do you like polenta? Grits came long before polenta and grits are basically polenta. In the south, they have a dish called cornmeal mush and fry it most often. It’s yellow cornmeal or polenta. You can read some grits facts here. I’ve lived many places in this country. When I was growing up, we lived twice in Mobile Alabama and that is where I came to know and love and eat grits. Grits really are a very southern thing. Some 15 years ago, I came across a treasure of a little book entitled: Good Old Grits Cookbook: Have Grits Your Way. Two southern boys Bill Neal and David Perry wrote the book. They owned and worked in Crook’s Corner Restaurant. Bill Neal is still owner of Crook’s Corner Restaurant and writing cookbooks, his latest is Seasoned in the South. The Good Old Grits Cookbook starts out with great stories of the south, how to eat grits and some great history of grits. Then it gets down to the nitty gritty of cooking them. I found a recipe called Jalapeno Grits Casserole. You have to understand that southern cooking is very big into FAT, fat in all forms: bacon, cheese, butter fat. The original recipe called for ½ c butter (1 stick) and 2 c sharp cheddar cheese, 3 eggs, 3 T minced jalapeno peppers, S & P and one recipe (about 4.5 c) cooked grits. I wanted grits & flavor not my monthly allotment of fat in one dish. I immediately dropped the butter all together – gone, used none. Then I added in a ton of flavor and fiber. I’ve never made the original recipe and mine turned out radically different still it was the inspiration jump off point. This is an amazingly flexible recipe. For me this is breakfast. For myself, I may cook this and cut it into 8 squares and have it 8 mornings in a row. Or, I may freeze 6 zip lock bags and take them out at random for any easy breakfast warmed in the microwave. Basic Grits in the Crock-Pot 4 c water 1 c grits Heat the water to boiling; pour into crock-pot along with grits and a pinch of salt. Cook until thickened. My very small crock-pot takes any where from an hour to two to cooked the grits. Stovetop cooking may take up to 40 minutes. Grits like polenta take time to develop the flavor. You can cook them fast and they look done but flavor only comes with time. And it’s subtle but if it’s not there, it’s not grits. At this point you have great grits. The next most basic thing to do with them is eat them plain either with S & P and butter OR sugar and butter them. I’m in the savory S & P and butter group but sugar in any form (brown, white, syrup) has an equal calling for some people. The next step for grits is to pair them with any number of things. Poached eggs are great. See my Grits, an egg and Mrs. Florentine. Another blogger I read (Lex Culinaria) loves grits also, see here. Grits and sausage are great. Some folks want Red-Eye Gravy with their grits. If you don’t know Red-Eye Gravy that’s a whole ‘nother story. After you have basic grits, you step off into the dimension of great opportunity and experimentation! Grits can take you anywhere. In the Good Old Grits Cookbook there’s a prize-winning recipe for Luscious Peachy Grits Cheese Cake; I’m not sure I’m ready for that! Two things I’m going to use you may not have seen and may not be able to find.  Not to worry, there are other options. I often don’t use the green chiles and any pepper would be good. These green chiles are mild poblanos. The Ro-Tel is a Tex-Mex thing. It’s just tomatoes and a very few mild green chiles. I’ve sometimes used just fresh tomatoes and no chiles. Any chopped canned tomatoes would work. Here’s my tried and true for breakfast. Easy to mix up the night before for guests and pop in the oven first thing while you enjoy coffee. Southwestern Grits Casserole Basic Grits recipe with additional 1/3 c water, ¼ c oat bran, 4 T cream of rye hot cereal (or other multi grain hot cereal) cooked as above. You do not have to add these in; feel very free to just start with the basic recipe of grits if you like. 2 T flaxseed (optional) 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes drained lightly 2 c sharp cheddar reduced fat cheese grated or cubed 2 c OR one can black beans drained well & rinsed 1 c egg substitute (egg beaters) OR 4 eggs 1-5 cloves garlic minced ½ to 1 t cumin ½ to 1 small onion chopped, sautéed if desired or raw Mix the grits with the above and pour into a greased casserole dish. I use one of the large casserole Pyrex dishes because I like thinner and a little crisp on the edges. If you like thicker and creamier use a smaller dish. The middle is going to be creamy which ever size you use.  Bake at 350° for 40 minutes to an 80 minutes. Depends on how moist or dry and crisp you want the dish. Variation I cannot over emphasize just how easy it is to change and add to this without changing anything above. Not that it won’t change the dish, it will be different but good. Corn: I often add in a hand full of frozen corn, left over can corn or fresh corn kernels if I have it. Beans: Change the beans around. In the south, black eyed peas eaten on New Year’s Day are supposed to bring Good Fortune for the New Year. Black eyed peas are so different that too many of them can over power even this dish. I cut them back to 1.5 cups and add a little extra onion. Peppers: Bell peppers chopped can add flavor and color. I really love topping the casserole with Roasted Anaheim or Poblano peppers! Most times I just add in a can of minced green Chile peppers. Serve with salsa and or guacamole. Have a beautiful time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gritshttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0894808656/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/104-1657744-2457558?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155http://www.crookscorner.com/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565124790/sr=8-1/qid=1154018051/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-1657744-2457558?ie=UTF83FD2BCAB-10BC-4D32-83CA-0B40F4214DF2.html4488FA7B-D006-4858-B0D2-E6889FA92E57.htmlhttp://gorgeoustown.typepad.com/lex_culinaria/2006/06/poached_eggs_on.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4shapeimage_1_link_5shapeimage_1_link_6
Recipe Evolution...
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
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