Cheese Grits

If you grew up in the South, you know what a yummy, comforting thing grits are (grits is?). They’re wonderful with just butter, salt and pepper, but add a little sharp cheddar and garlic to the mix and, oh my goodness, they are something else!  Now, BeeBop grew up in some far flung places like New Mexico and Colorado where they apparently do such unbelievable things with grits as putting (gasp!) sugar and milk on them.  Don’t worry, though. Over the years, I’ve taught him to appreciate the proper preparation of grits.  None of that sugar and milk nonsense in this house.  No, sir.

These cheese grits are (is? I can’t figure that out) easy, fast and inexpensive. They’re good for breakfast, but you’ll also find them in most restaurants in the south alongside fried fish.

These days I cook for two, so here’s my recipe.  You can double or triple it for your family.

Here’s what you need:

1/3 cup quick-cooking grits (none of that instant stuff for goodness sake)
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
couple dashes garlic powder (not fresh garlic…just trust me, it’s better my way)
2 1/2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Here’s what you do:

Bring the water and salt to a boil in a smallish saucepan. Add the grits to the boiling water using a whisk. Using the whisk ensures that you don’t get lumps in your grits.

Now cover the pot, lower the heat to a simmer and cook the grits according to the package directions.

When the grits are done, stir in the black pepper and garlic powder. Now, if you want to use fresh garlic go ahead. However, since we usually have Cheese Grits with breakfast and I don’t like to get a hunk of garlic in my mouth at that time of the day, I’ll stick with the powder. Thank you very much.

Next, add the grated cheddar.  Some people want to get all fancy with the cheese and use stuff like Parmesan, sharp Provolone or even Bleu cheese. However, to me anyway, grits are (is?…still can’t decide) homey, comfort food and messing around with all that fancy-ness is just fooling with an already good thing.  Just stick with the cheddar.

Next dump in the cheese and stir until blended.

Yum.

BeeBop read a story recently about a restaurant in New York City (go ahead and say it like they do on the salsa commercial…..NEW YORK CITY!!!!) that had just put grits on their menu. They were selling them for $8 for a 1 cup serving. People were lined up out the door every morning to get those $8 grits.  Man…I could go up there with $50 worth of grits and come home a wealthy woman.

Make some cheese grits soon. Your family will love you. And think about all those folks standing in line with $8 in their hand waiting for 10¢ worth of grits :-)

Enjoy!