Grits for breakfast
This week’s post talks about how to host guests with adolescents for an extended stay. In it, I discuss inviting the kids to help you cook in the kitchen. For an interesting twist on this concept, I’m sharing with you a recipe from an adult guest, from an unrelated visit, who cooked me breakfast. And I leisurely sat back and just watched!
Caterer, pastry chef, and entrepreneur extraordinaire, Emma Cromey, arrived at my apartment several months ago for a week’s stay. In addition to her chef’s jacket, she had packed her suitcase filled with low country ingredients from Charleston, S.C. She was the recipient of a much-coveted Dames d’Escoffier Legacy Award and was in town to learn how to improve her catering business. Her mentor for this project was Alison Awerbuch plus the formidable culinary and marketing team at Pier Sixty. In gratitude for all this instruction, Emma came prepared to make a typical southern meal for the entire staff.
One morning before heading out to work with Alison, Emmy asked if I wanted her to cook me breakfast. Without skipping a beat, I replied “And how!” The “Southern Cake Queen,” as she is locally known, commandeered my kitchen and went about stirring up an amazing breakfast of grits, prepared with heavy cream, along with thick slices of fried maple-cured bacon. Diet be damned!!!
While Emmy was preparing the grits, we chatted about the difference between grits and polenta, something I was more familiar with. There are two simple differences which become obvious when you look at them closely: color and texture. Grits are usually white—as they come from a white corn or hominy—whereas Polenta is yellow and has a finer texture being produced from a yellow corn called flint corn. Grits’ starchier, thicker texture, frequently stone-ground, helps make it creamier than polenta. Grits are cooked to resemble loose porridge. Polenta, on the other hand, is often cooked to a thick, risotto-like texture or even formed into cakes. (We will leave the discussion about whether polenta is interchangeable with corn meal for another day.)
This recipe was for the two of us, so double it for four servings. Emmy told me that she prepares her grits the way her mother did which is slightly different from the traditional method. Emma’s mother adds her grits at the beginning, not after the liquid comes to a boil.
Ingredients:
½ cup stone ground grits (not instant!!!)
2 cups water
Pinch of Kosher salt
½ cup heavy cream
Cooking instructions:
1. In a medium-sized, non-reactive saucepan, add the grits and water and place over a medium flame. Add a pinch of salt and stir.
2. Once the grits start to dance (or pop), turn down the heat. After 5 minutes add the heavy cream, stir and cover.
3. Lift the lid every few minutes and thoroughly whisk the grits stirring them to prevent lumps from forming and the bottom from scorching.
4. Cover the pot in between frequent stirrings which keeps the splattering contained.
5. Check for thickness. Add water as needed. Cooking time should take approximately 25-30 minutes depending on your desired thickness.
Some people add a pad of butter to their grits before serving them at breakfast time. However, as we had already treated ourselves to heavy cream in preparing the grits, we preferred instead to spoon them into heated bowls and then gild the lily with decadent, crispy bacon.
For savory grits, let your imagination run wild. In the south, these are just some of the possibilities: caramelized onions, grated cheddar cheese, diced Serrano peppers or red peppers, tomatoes, roasted corn, cilantro, or thinly sliced scallions. Of course, you can always fry up some tasty sauteed shrimp, too.
Serves: Two hungry ladies.
Beverage recommendation: Strong, black coffee! It’s breakfast