Puttin’ on the grits!

Anyone out there know what the official state food of both Georgia and South Carolina is? Need a hint? According to South Carolina political types at their 113th General Assembly, “Given enough of it, the inhabitants of planet Earth would have nothing to fight about.” You totally knew the answer was ‘grits,’ right? No, not so much?

While it may not seem like an obvious pantry staple to those of us in the northern states, barely a day goes by for our southern pals that a bowl of steaming hot grits isn’t served up at one meal or another. In fact, one of the first truly American foods the colonists experienced in Jamestown, VA, was corn grits. They learned of the soon-to-be-mainstay from the Native Americans, who served it up as a little dish they called “rockahominie.” The name alone makes it something we simply can’t resist stocking our pantries with… getting together for dinner sounds a little bit like this:

Carrie: “Hey Diana, what’s for dinner tonight, you sweet thing?”

Diana: “Rockahominie baby… good ole rockahominie, bring your spoon.”

Today, several grains besides corn can be ground and prepared as grits. A coarse grind is all that is required to be considered a member of the grit family. Fling our pantry doors open and chances are you’d find a couple varieties on hand for adding to soups, stews and casseroles. Barley, soybean and rye grits are just as simple to prepare as corn and, as an added bonus, are super nutritious and filling. Just 1/4 cup of soy grits provides a whopping 19 grams of protein, more than 25% of your daily fiber needs and absolutely no cholesterol or sodium. For you soup fanatics, barley grits impart the same nutty and satisfyingly chewy goodness as whole grain barley but has the added convenience of a faster cooking time. And, as if we need to keep throwing reasons to eat this stuff at you, how does getting 52% of your selenium needs fulfilled sound? You need that stuff to strengthen your immune system, by the way. Not enough? Okay then, barley has more than four times more soluble fiber than oats (not that we don’t loooove oats too) which can be extremely beneficial for those with Type 2 diabetes. Turns out our bodies’ glucose and insulin responses are lowered in relation to a diet high in barley’s fiber-y goodness.

Quite frankly, it’s hard to shut us up about all the reasons why you should have every spare Mason jar in your pantry filled with these grainy goodies.

So, what to do with all those grits now that we’ve talked you into stocking your pantries from the bulk bins? We’re glad you asked, or at least thought about asking ‘cause it doesn’t take much to get us talking. And for all you food snobs out there wishing we’d write about polenta instead of grits, cool your jets. “Polenta” can be easily interchanged in any recipe that calls for “grits.” Bear in mind, if it wasn’t for Columbus exploring the western hemisphere, the Italians would still be making porridge from barley, millet, chickpea and chestnut flour. But if you feel more sophisticated calling our grits “polenta,” by all means do, but we’re simple girls with grits.

Pantry Grits
While comparing how we like our grits, I remembered an amazing food cart in Madison; a Quicksilver Airstream with a turtle painted on it. It served the best grits I’ve ever had: cheesy-jalepeno corn grits with black bean-chevre gravy and fresh salsa. I love grits any which way, but those Texan-style grits are at the top of the list and make me a little weak in the knees. On the sweeter side of grits, I’m partial to a little lump of butter and some maple syrup, just like mamma used to make. This is the baseline recipe to any grits – once you have this aced, the add-ins are pretty much endless. – Diana

Cook up grits using a 4 to 1 ratio, water to grits

1 cup of grits serves 2 people (you can mix your grits, eg. corn and soy grits partner nicely)

Rye, Barley and Soy grits turn out softer than corn grits and polenta.

1. Boil water or stock over medium high heat. Add a pinch of salt and slowly stir in the grits. Stirring constantly while you pour them in results in creamy-non-lumpy grits.

2. Bring them back up to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Once the grits are off the heat, cheese and other delicious things can be stirred in (add a little more broth or water if it gets too thick).

Cheesy Barley Breakfast Grits
Any grit will do here, I just really like how toasty the barley smells. Top these grits off with eggs cooked to order (in case you find yourselves making breakfast for us, Carrie takes hers over medium and Diana just said, “I wouldn’t want them scrambled over all this business. Poached or over easy sounds delicious though! Aren’t you going to stir those grits?” We like a heaping helping of fresh salsa made from chopped cherry tomatoes, diced onion, cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. It’s so delicious and satisfying, you’ll forgive us for the 1/2 cup of butter in the recipe … we hope. – Carrie

4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup barley grits
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
milk, added to the eggs to make 1 cup

1. Boil water. Add salt and grits, lower heat and simmer 3-4 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and stir in butter, cheese and egg/milk mixture. Stir well.

3. Pour into a buttered 2-quart casserole dish and bake at 350° for about 45 minutes.

Rockahominie and Shrimp
Call it what you will, grits, polenta, rockahominie – with shrimp on top it’s a killer dinner no matter which side of the Mason-Dixon line you hail from. Best eaten while listening to WMSE’s Chicken Shack. Check out their site with archived shows at www.WMSE.org – Diana

Serves 4
1 batch of pantry grits (I used polenta/corn grits)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (dairy-free Follow Your Heart Cheese is a good substitute)
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
4 bacon slices, roughly chopped
Juice from 1 lemon
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
parsley, chopped (handful, to taste)
hot sauce to taste

1. Stir cheddar cheese into pantry grits and keep covered until ready to serve. (If they get too thick, add a little water or stock to thin them out).

2. In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crisp and drain on a paper towel. Add shrimp to the bacon grease and cook over medium heat. Sauté until they turn pink (no more than 3 minutes.)

3. Add the lemon juice, green onions, garlic and parsley, and remove from the heat.

4. Divide the grits between 4 bowls, top with the shrimp mixture and a sprinkling of bacon. Serve with a few dashes of hot sauce, turn up Johnny Z’s chicken shack, write your congressman requesting grits to be our state food and dream of the next time you get to make grits for dinner.

Pantry Grit Cakes
Leftover grits = grit cakes the next day! Whether you’re into polenta, corn grits, rye grits or barley grits the benefit of making a double batch is a no-brainer dinner tomorrow. A standard weeknight grit cake for me is fried squares of corn grits topped with tomato sauce on a bed of sautéed greens. By the by, Carrie’s cheesy grits are great made into cakes with a fried egg and a few dashes of hot sauce. -Diana

Leftover pantry grits, still warm
1/4 cup any cheese, grated or crumbled (optional)
4 tablespoons olive oil

1. Stir cheese, if using, into the warm grits. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and a little extra warm water if your grits set up while in the cooking pot – if they’re still soft, skip this step.

2. Smooth warm grits into a bread pan or baking dish, cover with plastic wrap or waxed paper and let cool overnight in the refrigerator. They’ll be firm and sliceable once you get to them again.

3. Cut into 1/2 inch slices or squares (if you’re fancy, use a round cookie cutter).

4. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat in a frying pan – add the grit “cakes” and let them sizzle for a good 5 – 10 minutes without peeking at them. When you notice the edges are crisp and golden, flip gently to brown the other side. Perfect grit cakes will be golden brown or light brown and crispy. We love our cakes with stew, pasta sauces and sautéed vegetables.

By Diana Sieger and Carrie Rowe

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