Grits!

[Blackwater]

I know some absolutely hate them, but I can't for the life of me understand why. They're just ground corn, and who doesn't like corn? Here in the south, they've long been a real staple, and very few here hate them, and most love them. Grits are one of the main things I miss being able to eat as much as I want of. Cheese grits (grits with cheese melted in them) is a real treat here!
I can't help but think it's a problem of not seasoning them right or well enough? We salt them, and put a good bit of butter on them (just like you'd do with corn on the cob) and gee golly wow are they good! You DO have to have something with them, like bacon, ham or sausage, or gravy made with those things, to get them up to their best flavor, but hot buttered grits (salted just right) are something I cannot understand more folks not liking.

What is it about grits that turn some off of them? Was what you had un-salted? NEVER put sugar in them!!! You wouldn't put sugar on corn on the cob, would you? Don't put it in grits, either.

As a kid, Mom used to say they'd "stick to yer ribs," and indeed, if I was going out for a long day's quail hunt, where you walk untold miles in pursuit of those feathered delacacies, the energy they provided was pretty crucial. A big breakfast, with lots of grits and anything else I could find, and a ham and cheese sandwich, and I was good to go until dusk! But boy could I scarf it away when I got back home!

So what is it that makes some hate grits so? Did you salt them? Put butter in them? Or what? I tried some once with some sugar in them, and couldn't eat them either! Is that part of the problem? We're so blessed in this country to have such a great variety of foods, but it hasn't always been like that. When folks grew whatever they wanted to eat, corn was a natural, and I don't know how long it took to grind it up and make grits and corn meal to make "lacy cornbread," but it couldn't have taken long at all, I'd think. I love my grits! It's a shame and a burden to not be able to eat them regularly now! So what's your take on grits, and any special things you put in or on them to make them better?

[DerekP Houston]

*shrug* we enjoy them sweet or savory here, I'm partial to cheese grits for dinner though. Also good with a few slices of pickled jalapenos.

[Sur-shot]

There is really no wrong way to eat grits, other than just plain, then they are like trying to eat unsalted cardboard box. I like mine salted and peppered, spooned over my eggs with runny yokes, with lots of black pepper on top, some sausage patties, with a liberal splash of Tabasco on grits, a hot buttered biscuit or two and a hot cup of coffee. Way better than those frozen, shredded, fake fried potatoes for sure.
Ed

PS: Cheese grits with fresh mullet, cooked in hot batter (made with Tabasco) is just wonderful eats.

[Boaz]

Can't tell you why many don't like em besides not growing up eating them . We had them quite a bit . I just put butter on mine .

[tallwalker]

Grits are good. For breakfast it is sort of a replacement for hash browns but they aren't limited to just breakfast. "Grits and Grillades" is a staple comfort food around here, so is shrimp and grits. Food is part of just about everything we do down here, even (or maybe especially) hunting. I wouldn't think of grilling game at the camp and not saving some bits and pieces (grillades) for breakfast the next day. If there are grits left over we just press a few into rounds, skillet fry them and take them to the stand for a snack. Grits are high living too and traditional at balls and formal affairs. Of course, best I ever ate was in the woods though.

http://www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2017/02/why_is_grillades_and_grits_a_c.html

[shoot-n-lead]

I love grits...most anyway you want to do them.

[Spooksar]

Not having grown up eating them I tried them and like them, to only problem is I'm diebetic and corn really spikes my blood sugars. So I only eat them once in a while

[farmerjim]

I love grits. I like them with white sausage gravy, a couple of easy over yard eggs, and a homemade biscuit. They are good with just butter and salt and pepper. I too am diabetic, so I will have them at breakfast when I am going out to work. I burn off the sugar as fast as it comes up. If not active, corn will send my sugar through the roof.

[Grits]

Here I am.......

Grits is the 1911 of breakfast foods. Highly customizable.

One of the finest meals my bride ever made was a meal of pork chops, green beans, and grits. This was for supper one night. She didn't have rice or potatoes so i suggested the grits.

Problem with some people.is they don't know how to eat grits. Just butter and salt for me.





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[Hogtamer]

Ok, here's how to do it.....Don't buy the instant stuff like quick grits, 5 minute, etc. Buy some stone ground yellow grits with a little size to them, not mealy. The ratio is 4 parts liquid to 1 part grits. Start with a quart of chicken stock and being to a boil. You can use a large bullion cube to a quart of water. Add about a teaspoon of salt, prolly not enough but thats good for now. Stir in about 3 tablespoons butter and stir in grits. Reduce to medium low and let simmer for 15 minutes or so, stir occassionally. Add a little garlic powder and cracked pepper. Also either a little tabasco or cajun seasoning...not much, you just want the flavor, not the heat. Oh, keep lid covering most of pot as this stuff is like napalm when it splatters on you. Total time simmering maybe 30 minutes and finish with a little heavy cream or half and half, taste for seasoning. Prolly need more salt. If too thick add a little more dairy. If too thin cook a bit longer. You can add cheese (a touch of parmesan is nice) whatever kind you like. Top with an over easy fried egg, sauteed shrimp, sausage or nothing at all. Good stuff!

[RogerDat]

Wife is grits with salt, pepper and eggs, I'm buttered and syrup. Not that many place up here have them but Cracker Barrel does so we make it a point to go there for breakfast every once in awhile. And when we go down south to visit family we tend to enjoy the local cuisine as much as possible while we are there. :-)

[too many things]

i would bet they are hard to find outside of the 15 "reb" states

[frankenfab]

Cheese grits, yes! Shrimp and grits, yes! Butter and salt as well.

Yellow grits can be harder to find. I stumbled across them in the gluten free section at Walmart. Ordered some on Amazon as well.

[Boaz]

Ok, here's how to do it.....Don't buy the instant stuff like quick grits, 5 minute, etc. Buy some stone ground yellow grits with a little size to them, not mealy. The ratio is 4 parts liquid to 1 part grits. Start with a quart of chicken stock and being to a boil. You can use a large bullion cube to a quart of water. Add about a teaspoon of salt, prolly not enough but thats good for now. Stir in about 3 tablespoons butter and stir in grits. Reduce to medium low and let simmer for 15 minutes or so, stir occassionally. Add a little garlic powder and cracked pepper. Also either a little tabasco or cajun seasoning...not much, you just want the flavor, not the heat. Oh, keep lid covering most of pot as this stuff is like napalm when it splatters on you. Total time simmering maybe 30 minutes and finish with a little heavy cream or half and half, taste for seasoning. Prolly need more salt. If too thick add a little more dairy. If too thin cook a bit longer. You can add cheese (a touch of parmesan is nice) whatever kind you like. Top with an over easy fried egg, sauteed shrimp, sausage or nothing at all. Good stuff!


Sounds good !

[KenH]

Cheese grits with fresh mullet, cooked in hot batter

Now ya' talking.... we had cheese grits with shrimp last night - now that was good!!!

[DougGuy]

Love grits! Not the store bought generic white purified petrified powderfied produced kind, but stone ground coarse, and not fully sifted or bolted as they call it.

I am somewhat of a "designer grits" connoisseur and have hunted out 3 specific brands that stand out well above all others. These are all stone ground, coarse, and cook up with big grain pieces, and cook up thick and creamy all on their own without using milk or cream..

1st up, Pencil Cob grits, ground from Pencil Cob corn, cultivated by Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills in the SC low country. This corn is an antebellum holdback that was very popular with the moonshiners but wasn't grown much after the advent of mechanized farming. Now brought back to well received production, chefs are saying these are the best grits in the USA. I would tend to agree with them, as they are the most flavorful and aromatic grits I have ever cooked! The whole house smells like fresh corn when you cook them, and they are fully in their own right without any salt or pepper or any other add-ons, I salt and pepper them on the plate.

http://www.ansonmills.com/products/12

2nd, another antebellum favorite by Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills, also brought back from nearly total extinction by a farmer who happened to grow a few plants and save a handful of seeds, no kidding, this is how close to extinction that James Island Red corn came!! Called "Jimmy Red Grits" these are stone ground coarse grits that have large pieces of dark rusty red grain, but cooks up to a bluish near purplish color, a little different to get used to but one good serving, and you won't complain about the color, as the whole grain flavor comes through. Anson Mills doesn't list these for sale, but if you place an order and ask them to swap some Jimmy Red Grits they will be glad to do so.

A little background on the James Island Red corn and the grits made from it:

https://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark-item/jimmy-red-corn

Also sold by Geechie Boy Mill, Jimmy Red Grits are in a league all their own:

http://geechieboymill.com/product/jimmy-red-grits/attachment/jimmy-red-grits/

Lastly, the 3rd kind of grits I want to tell you about is made from white Hickory King corn, grown and milled by Barkley's Mill in North Carolina. This is a family operation, from fields to table, and they grow and mill this corn with great pride, and the grits are nothing short of awesome either! They are a bit pricey, but these are pretty much hand made grits from seed to milling and bagging, and they are creamy and delicious!

https://www.barkleysmill.com/

I don't expect everyone to order these varieties online just from reading my post but I can tell you any of these will elevate your perception of what really good grits are, and we only live once so enjoy it while you can!!

[Hogtamer]

+1 on the Anson Mills...

[frankenfab]

The Anson Mills is what I bought from Amazon. Good grits!

[RogerDat]

Wife is grits with salt, pepper and eggs, I'm buttered and syrup. Not that many place up here have them but Cracker Barrel does so we make it a point to go there for breakfast every once in awhile. And when we go down south to visit family we tend to enjoy the local cuisine as much as possible while we are there. :-)

Wife made me correct this. She likes grits with butter, salt, pepper and eggs. Busted my chops over forgetting she puts butter on too.

[CastingFool]

I buy Bob's Red Mill organic corn meal. It's yellow, not white, recipe calls for 3 parts water, 1 part cornmeal. add a little salt to the water, when it boils, dump the cornmeal in it, and shut the burner off, let it sit for 4:30 minutes. We have a solid surface stove, you shut the heat off, and the top stays warm for a while. May not be grits to you, but it is to me. When stationed at Ft. Benning, I was the only Michigander that would eat grits for breakfast. The other guys just didn't get how good they could be. Lived in FL for 2-1/2 yrs, that's where I picked up my taste for grits. The school cafeteria served them every Friday, with fish patties.

[frankenfab]

Anyone else been to Cajun Steamer in Birmingham? I used to get down that way once a year. I always had fried Red Snapper and cheese grits. That place is what got me turned on to grits.

[Tom W.]

Before y'all string me up as a heretic, listen. I remember when my first wife used to buy instant grits. Nasty and really inedible. Advance to Martha White's quick grits. Great for an early breakfast before hunting or fishing. Now, forty years later, my current bride introduced me to Quaker instant grits. There is such an improvement. Now I get the flavored packs at the store. We still have a bag of the thirty minute grits, but seldom have time to cook them.

[dverna]

It is a Southern thing. I tried them a few times....but always tasted like seasoned wall paper paste.

Now oatmeal I can enjoy...especially in the winter

[DougGuy]

Now, forty years later, my current bride introduced me to Quaker instant grits. There is such an improvement.

You may want to pay a bit of attention to the ingredients, this is maybe the worst version of grits out there from a health viewpoint. Loaded with hydrogenated oils.

They say when you go in a grocery store, all the good stuff is around the outsides, produce, meats, dairy, etc, and all the bad stuff is in the middle. Processed foods, chemicals and additives galore, things like Fig Newtons which has lots of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils, some of the worst things you could eat. I used to love the Quaker Instant Grits butter flavor. Until I started reading labels. No more in this house.

[MT Gianni]

I have been served grits from home cooked to waffle house. They remind me of school paste from first grade. I under stand some of you folks don't eat hash browns for breakfast either, what's up with that?






Truth is two eggs a piece of cheese do me from 6 am until around 2:30 PM. If I add spuds or pancakes I want to kill something and eat it around 10:30. Learn what your body wants and feed it that.

[Blackwater]

Wow! I expected a lot more derisive posts, but you guys have grits down pat! Maybe there is hope for this world yet? ;)

[Fishman]

Love grits! Not the store bought generic white purified petrified powderfied produced kind, but stone ground coarse, and not fully sifted or bolted as they call it.

I am somewhat of a "designer grits" connoisseur and have hunted out 3 specific brands that stand out well above all others. These are all stone ground, coarse, and cook up with big grain pieces, and cook up thick and creamy all on their own without using milk or cream..

1st up, Pencil Cob grits, ground from Pencil Cob corn, cultivated by Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills in the SC low country. This corn is an antebellum holdback that was very popular with the moonshiners but wasn't grown much after the advent of mechanized farming. Now brought back to well received production, chefs are saying these are the best grits in the USA. I would tend to agree with them, as they are the most flavorful and aromatic grits I have ever cooked! The whole house smells like fresh corn when you cook them, and they are fully in their own right without any salt or pepper or any other add-ons, I salt and pepper them on the plate.

http://www.ansonmills.com/products/12

2nd, another antebellum favorite by Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills, also brought back from nearly total extinction by a farmer who happened to grow a few plants and save a handful of seeds, no kidding, this is how close to extinction that James Island Red corn came!! Called "Jimmy Red Grits" these are stone ground coarse grits that have large pieces of dark rusty red grain, but cooks up to a bluish near purplish color, a little different to get used to but one good serving, and you won't complain about the color, as the whole grain flavor comes through. Anson Mills doesn't list these for sale, but if you place an order and ask them to swap some Jimmy Red Grits they will be glad to do so.

A little background on the James Island Red corn and the grits made from it:

https://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark-item/jimmy-red-corn

Also sold by Geechie Boy Mill, Jimmy Red Grits are in a league all their own:

http://geechieboymill.com/product/jimmy-red-grits/attachment/jimmy-red-grits/

Lastly, the 3rd kind of grits I want to tell you about is made from white Hickory King corn, grown and milled by Barkley's Mill in North Carolina. This is a family operation, from fields to table, and they grow and mill this corn with great pride, and the grits are nothing short of awesome either! They are a bit pricey, but these are pretty much hand made grits from seed to milling and bagging, and they are creamy and delicious!

https://www.barkleysmill.com/

I don't expect everyone to order these varieties online just from reading my post but I can tell you any of these will elevate your perception of what really good grits are, and we only live once so enjoy it while you can!!


DougGuy, just a stellar post. Thank you!

I like my grits with real butter salt and pepper with two over easy eggs on top. Some bacon is optional. Really good.

[Boaz]

I agree Fishman , he got me wanting to try some besides the 'regular' .

[Love Life]

My best friend in the world and I almost got in a fist fight in the chow hall when I saw him put syrup on his grits. He is from Tennessee so I can only blame it on improper upbringing.

[mac60]

Grew up eating grits. Love it. On Saturday morning my wife makes me some redeye gravy to go over my grits. Sometimes on Friday the evening meal is fried catfish with grits. It's a southern thing I guess. I can see where they would be kind of an acquired taste.

[bullseye67]

Good evening,
Well as a guy growing up a long....long way from the South. I love GRITS....hot, cold salty, sweet, with hot sauces and seafood and with syrup and cinnamon as a dessert style dish. My absolute favorite is as a small flat cake. They look like fast food hash browns about the same size. The lady that made them when I was a kid called them a field cake? Mix yellow grits, water(hot not boiling works best) and salt to taste, together into a mush. flatten them out a bit and then, they are fried(bacon grease is the best) crisp on the outside and very flavorful on the inside. We eat them with eggs and bacon like toast. I like them the best with raspberry jam and bacon together as a sandwich......MMMMM I know what I am having for breakfast tomorrow!!!
Have a fantastic Long(if you are on my side of the 49th) Weekend!!:drinks:

[MaryB]

The texture turns me off... every time I have had them they were gritty, literally...

[Mtnfolk75]

When SWMBO is away on Fire Camp assignments I sometimes do the Instant Quaker Grits with two microwaved lightly poached eggs and lots of Black Pepper, Tabasco & butter in a bowl, add Bacon Bits if we have them. Passes for a Breakfast meal when I don't feel like cooking for one.

[Hogtamer]

Then there are fried grits! Pour what you have left over (make extra!) into a pan so they're about 1/2" deep and put in fridge till next day. From cold, cut slices or rounds and dust in seasoned flour. Then dip in 1/2 egg and 1/2 water well mixed, then dredge in flour again. Cook on stovetop in frypan with about 1/8" oil, medium heat until one side crisp, then turn and brown other side. While the cooked cakes are draining make a couple of over easy eggs to top fried grits. Or how about fried grits croutons (same prep just small pieces and cooked longer).

[DougGuy]

Fried grits are totally upscale.

Brunch at Charleston's prestigious 82 Queen restaurant features their take on Shrimp & Grits, the grits are a cake made with gorgonzola cheese inside, deep fried crispy, topped with Cajun spiced shrimp, two poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. It's like a Shrimp & Grits Benedict.

It was DELICIOUS!! I had wished for a little Tasso gravy which would have been the perfect thing to serve this dish with, instead of plating it on more grits..

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/82QueenCajunShrimpWithGorgonzolaGritCakePoachedEgg sAndHollandaise640_zpsyoywnxhq.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/82QueenCajunShrimpWithGorgonzolaGritCakePoachedEgg sAndHollandaise640_zpsyoywnxhq.jpg.html)

[Hickory]

​Sherman's march to the sea was not to subdue the South, but, to destroy fields of corn and factories that produced grits. I think the South won that part of the war.

[Artful]

i would bet they are hard to find outside of the 15 "reb" states

Every Cracker Barrel serves grits.

https://locations.crackerbarrel.com/

If your in a non-southern area look for Italian Mom&Pop
and order Polenta
http://www.seriouseats.com/assets_c/2015/05/20150501-polenta-vicky-wasik-5-thumb-1500xauto-422647.jpg
po·len·ta
http://assets.epicurious.com/photos/57ced3dde6411cab70f0d945/2:1/w_1260%2Ch_630/creamy-polenta.jpg
pəˈlentə / noun
cornmeal as used in Italian cooking.
a paste or dough made from cornmeal, which is boiled and typically then fried or baked.
https://www.metro.ca/userfiles/image/recipes/Polenta-2021.jpg
http://www.seriouseats.com/images/2015/05/20150501-polenta-vicky-wasik-23.jpg
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/how-to-make-the-best-polenta.html

[Hogtamer]

I like the way you think Doug, in fact who needs the shrimp? Use good tasso or country ham underneath those perfect eggs and hollandaise...

[DougGuy]

The most unimaginable place you've ever found grits?

New York City! Jefferson Ave. in Brooklyn! Walked into a little diner/cafe there and they had a steam table with the usual breakfast buffet items, and they had GRITS! IN NEW YORK CITY! Go figure!! That one was a shocker!

Their breakfast carry out was a round tin foil thing with a cardboard lid that all the Italian restaurants use, they put a cup and a half of grits, then your eggs however you ordered them, then your meat, then your toast, covered it for you, out the door in 5 mins, for $4 bucks! I loved it! Ate there every morning for 3 weeks. I was sleeping in the back of a box van that I bought from ebay, blew the motor up and lived out of the back of the truck on the streets while I rebuilt an engine on the sidewalk and stuck it back in there to get home. That whole trip was a nightmare, and the only GOOD thing I remember about it was finding GRITS!!

[Blackwater]

Mary, if those grits you had were "gritty," it's simply because they weren't cooked long enough, or because they didn't use enough water. Both those factors can be a reason folks don't like grits. Good grits are NEVER "gritty" in the least. Just nice and smooth, with only a hint of "texture" to them, but it's NOT a bad kind of texture.


And for those of you who liken them to "paste," please note that you do NOT eat them as served these days, without tasting them! This is critical! If they don't taste a tad salty, they need more salt. With the anti-salt crowd being so active these days, and not without some merit, most restaurants cook their grits done, but leave the salting to the customer. Some folks still like way more salt than I do in them, and those on a no-salt diet can eat them plain if they want, but in all honesty, I don't believe I could eat unsalted grits either, so .... we're really in agreement on the un-salted grits, and who could eat ANY form of corn without some good butter? Give that a try and I believe you'll be really surprised next time you try them. As with anything in the kitchen, the little "details" DO make a HUGE difference! Anything else you feel like putting in them will probably work, too, as long as it tends to go with corn, because corn is really what grits really are. FWIW???

[rockrat]

I love grits too, but I do put sugar in mine!!! Flame On!!!!

[Artful]

Well, I treat mine like I do my oatmeal
- butter, milk and honey or sugar
- 'cuz I like my morning grain/cereal sweet
- Syrup and butter on my pancakes or waffles
- even put yogurt in my grapenuts :p

[308Jeff]

I've only had them a few times in my life, and it's been many years, but I always liked them.

[gwpercle]

Grits.....real grits , cooked on top the stove , not them instant things that are an abomination to good eating .
Grits , with liver and onions and gravy....
Gary

[Blackwater]

Wow! I actually tried a small amount once with sugar, just to see what it was like because I couldn't imagine it. I couldn't eat it, but then again, I went into it expecting to taste "grits," and the taste was SO far removed from what I was used to that this may have skewed my perception. I'm always fascinated at how widely peoples' tastes can vary. Now, they're on my verbotten list, except maybe on a rare special occasion, so I probably won't try them with sugar again. But I'll NEVER criticize another's taste, even if I don't understand or can't relate to it myself. In my world, "Food is good," plain and simple, and I've met VERY few things that I have liked, and nothing I can remember that I wouldn't eat.

So I may not understand it, but .... to each his own. But if you get the chance to taste some cooked by someone who really knows how to make them "just right," with just the right amount of salt and some butter, give'em another try. Breakfast is best, but around here, we eat fried fish and grits, and may well eat grits with just about anything from time to time. It'll go with anything that tastes good with corn, because that's really all it is.

I've sure gotten some hunger pangs from reading some of these recipes! Thanks! Wish I could try them all, but grits are something of a "special occasion" thing for me now. But I WILL try to keep all these neat recommendations in mind when I get a chance or reason to have some. This thread has surely made me hunger for them!

[texasnative46]

When I was a boy, IF I'd been "good" (which was NOT often!!), my governess would make me FRIED GRITS & DROP BISCUITS with my morning eggs/bacon or ham.
(I've never been able to duplicate what "Sister" made. - I've come to think that the secret ingredient was LOVE.)

yours, tex

[Fishman]

Wait . . . Governess? That begs for an explanation :)

[texasnative46]

Fishman,

Fwiw, I'd guess that I've spent too much time OCONUS to speak like a typical Texican.

yours, tex

[Rick R]

Grits with salt and butter, or shrimp n grits if I'm near the Carolina coast. I have found one restaurant here in WV and another in PA that do decent shrimp n grits...

When I was in South Africa I found they eat "pop" or "mealie" which is ground corn slow cooked in a pot and served up with lunch or dinner. Looks a lot like grits. The "natives" eat it for almost every meal and will forego meat if forced to choose between. It was almost like mashed potatoes but from corn.