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Creamy Grits

Posted: May 24, 2013

Hi everyone-

I am not from the South, but I love Cajun food and hubby is a great Cajun food cook. We now live in Florida and recently went to a Cajun restaurant that had cheddar cheese grits with andouille sausage and shrimp. OMG, it was fabulous. I had not had grits before, but had heard they could be "gritty." However, this dish was unbelievable, creamy, creamy.

Anyway, hubby is an excellent cook but has never tried his hand at grits and gave it a good shot. The taste came out wonderful in terms of the Cajun taste w/the shrimp and andouille, but the grits were "gritty." He has never had grits experience before and did the best he could. Only thing missing was the creamy texture. What went wrong?

Not knowing what the heck we were doing in terms of buying grits, we bought the quick-cook. Should we have gotten instant?

;

From the south and never had grits but I - know what my husband

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uses when he cooks grits (very sparingly). He is a great cook also but would never use the instant or quick for any type foods, nor does he ever use the microwave. He buys the regular grits and I think it might take those about 15-20 minutes to cook. He also was adamant about getting a convetion oven the last time we upgraded. He never takes the short cut in any cooking endeavors, says the food just does not taste as good. I hope this helps. Oh for the record, being from the south and growing up in the south (Tennessee born) never heard about grits until traveling to Florida as a child. When eating out in my home state for breakfast always had serving of grits on the side like with ham or eggs. I thought beach sandy, grits sounded the same so just did not want to eat and haven't until this day although my kids eat.

Thanks! - OP

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All we saw on the shelf were quick-cook and instant. I have heard from those who like grits, that instant is what gives grits a bad name. SO, we decided on the quick-cook.

We had to buy a 5-lb bag, as that was the smallest size it came in, so I guess we need to figure out how to make these creamy!

grits - girl raised in the south

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Instead of using only water, use half water and half milk. Be careful not to scald it before adding regular grits (not instant or quick cook). Another trick is to add the grits after the water/milk is warm, but not yet to a soft boil. That gives them longer cooking time. To use in the recipe you describe, do NOT use polenta. While it is also a corn product, you will get a different flavor and texture than what you are looking for with this particular recipe. Also, it is likely butter was added at the end of the recipe, but you can try it with and w/o to see which suits your taste.

p.s. The milk will make the quick grits creamer as well, but you will not duplicate the restaurant recipe without using the regular grits.

Thanks - OP

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Yeah, I was wondering about the regular grits vs instant vs quick. My gut instinct was telling me real grits, but I didn't see it on the shelf in amongst the quick and instant.

We thought of cooking it right in the milk, but it was an after-thought. We did add some half and half, but not until later when we saw it wasn't creamy.

We have some leftovers (sans shrimp), and I'm going to roll them up in a flour tortilla and have it for lunch.

For a Southwestern flavor, add green chile - and cheddar cheese

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I'm from New Mexico. Everything's better with green chile in it.

:)

You might also add - Nick

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some habaneros if you are really brave! I roast them in the oven and put them on omelets. You have to really, really love hot food, but habaneros are great roasted. (Just be sure to wear gloves while roasting and open a window.)

We grow our own habaneros - so we did spice it up!-OP

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xxx

Wow, you grow your own! - Nick

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I live in an apartment, so do not have a garden. Maybe some day.....But you are lucky to grow your own!

Yup, we grow our own - see msg

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We live in SW Florida, and we have a screened in pool/porch area. It's just perfect. Varmints can't get at them and they have plenty of sunshine with filtering (the screen) so nothing burns. We make our own hot sauce. Our friends love it, and we can't keep up with their demands! We do have a deal with them---bring us back the bottle we gave it to you in, and we'll fill-er-up for ya.

We're also growing some other kind of pepper, but gosh darn, I can't remember the name of them. They're real tiny, tiny, tiny. I'm pretty sure they're hot.

Wow, sounds like a heat lover's paradise - Nick

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both from a geographic location and from the kinds of peppers you grow. I once ate a serrano pepper whole on a dare--never again!

Pepper I could not - remember the name of

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We are also growing Bird's Eye peppers---that's the small peppers (tiny, tiny) that I couldn't remember in my other post. They are hot!

We added poblanos - does that count?!-OP-nm

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xxx

forgot to add - girl raised in the south

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Use a whisk to add in the grits to the liquid and keep slowly whisking for quite a while. I wouldn't switch to a wooden spoon after adding butter and then adding the cheese at the end of cooking.

All this talk of grits - inspired me to

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make some yesterday. I used polenta, even though the Southern Belle specifically forbade it, and you know what? THEY TURNED OUT FINE. I always use polenta and have never been disappointed.

So there.

I didn't forbid polenta - girl raised in the south

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in all things. I just said it was not the right product to use with shrimp and andouille sausage in recreating a creole recipe.

Polenta is made from yellow corn. The most common grits available in the US market is made from white corn.

Personally I enjoy polenta, but for the specific recipe being discussed, it has a decidedly different flavor and texture that is inappropriate to that recipe.

Enjoy polenta as often as you like, just remember it's Eye Talyian not Southern :)

Well bless your heart, - dear

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.

Agree - Polenta too strong for some dishes-nm

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xxx

Golly, I thought - Southern women

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were supposed to be so classy.

Maybe it's because I'm one of those contemptible "Eye Talyians", but deliberately ridiculing someone's heritage doesn't seem very classy to me.

classy or not - girl raised in the south

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The spelling Eye Talyian was to place emphasis on dialict, not be contemptible towards a group of people.

Going back to the recipe, creole has its roots in French cuisine. This is why regular white grits is the product of choice for the recipe being discussed, as well as being finished with butter (butter is the finisher that smooths out French cuisine). Polenta is a typical Italian product, therefore not the preferred product for the recreation of the recipe being discussed. Also, olive oil tends to be the finisher with Italian recipes, not butter.

In the culinary world, these choices make a world of difference to the finished recipe.

As to someone ridiculing someone's heritage, I could pick apart the seemingly innocuous post "well, bless your heart, dear." First of all in the south, that statement clearly came from a non-Southerner. We end our statements in something akin to "suga" or "honey", not "dear." Secondly, when used in the context as it was, the hidden message is not to bless one's heart, but to tell someone to kiss a body part residing on the rear of the body.

People who take offense easily could benefit from education about these little cultural differences.

Oh, I know exactly - what

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"bless your heart" means and used it as intended. Just as your "emphasis" on mispronouncing my heritage was used exactly as you intended--to express contempt. Regardless of what you may choose to believe, being Italian does not equate to being stupid.

some people - girl raised in the south

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You have just proven that being of a particular heritage does not assure a person of being raised with good manners.

Have a nice day.

If the grits are not cooked - long enough

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they will be gritty. It can take up to 30 minutes or longer, depending on the cornmeal, to get the right consistency. Try the cornmeal labeled for use as polenta. (Polenta is basically Italian grits). Make sure it is cooked on medium-low temperature. Then just keep testing them until they are the consistency you want. They will get there, just be patient. And keep stirring! Cooking grits is labor-intensive because they will burn on the bottom of the pan if they're not stirred pretty much constantly. You might need to add more liquid as they cook. If you're putting cheese into the grits, add it at the end so it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pot.

I agree... - I think getting that creamy

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texture is a matter of plenty of cook time and plenty of liquid.

Yum! - Nick

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I'm not from the South, but y'all can cook for me anytime! I love grits!

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