Did you know that grits and coffee share something in common? Both are much better if they have been freshly ground. The coffee revolution in this country brought that point home in a big way. When is the last time you visited a coffee shop that was using pre-ground coffee? It just won’t happen these days.
And grits are just the same, although far too many people seem to be satisfied with grits from the grocery store that were probably ground months ago. Go figure. The best grits I have ever had come from a small company just outside of Oxford, MS, called Original Grit Girl Grits. They order their whole corn from a farmer’s co-op near Houston, MS, which is shipped to oxford, unloaded, ground the next day and shipped out the next. It just doesn’t get any fresher that this. You can buy OGGG at the Ocean Springs Saturday morning Fresh Market or at Desporte’s Seafood in Biloxi (both places well worth visiting on a regular basis).
So, you think grits are boring and uninteresting? Here are a few tips to jack up your grits. First, after the grits are done, pour them into a muffin mold (or another mold of your choice) and let them get firm, pop them out and you now have an interesting shape, not just a spoonful plopped on a plate. To make them even better, sauté the grit cakes in butter to add a tasty crunch.
I always make grits with heavy cream and chicken stock, it sure beats the results you get if you just use water. You might want to diced onion, bell pepper and jalapenos, sauté them briefly in butter and then add them to the grits before they are cooked. Almost any kind of cheese is good too, but Gruyere, the king of all melting cheeses, is best.
Grits pair nicely with a surprising number of other good things. One of my favorites is a rich, long cooked Bolognaise sauce, topped with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan Reggiano. If you are having grits for breakfast, top the cakes with a patty of spicy sausage, and then a soft-cooked egg. It’s a delicious combination. Grit cakes pair well with beef stew and the more traditional shrimp and grits. If you are going for shrimp and grits, you can simply sauté the shrimp in lots of garlic butter as a topping, or you can complicate things by adding sautéed onion, bell pepper, jalapenos and diced tomato, making sure to season with lots of red pepper flakes!
