Description
This classic Southern staple is made with just a handful of inexpensive ingredients and can feed a group for just pennies per person. It’s worth making extra for grilled grits later in the week.
Ingredients
1 cup grits
7 cups water
1– 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves or Smoked Garlic Cloves
1 Tablespoon fat (butter, oil, duck fat, chicken fat, or bacon fat)
Instructions
In the morning, combine the water and grits in the pot you will use to cook them. Stir them and let sit until dinner time.
Using a fine mesh sieve, skim the surface of the water to remove the …….
Stir the mixture and turn on the burner. Bring the grits and water to a boil, stirring often. Add the salt, garlic, and bay.
Turn the mixture off and let it sit, covered, for 30 minutes.
Bring the pot back to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, stirring the pot and scraping the bottom frequently for 30-45 minutes. If you would like the grits thicker, continue cooking and stirring until thickened to your liking (beware of molten splatters).
Serve the grits right away.
Leftovers should be poured into a shallow dish while still pretty warm and liquidy. The next day, or whenever you plan to use them, you will be able to cut into squares or rounds and pan fry or grill the grits cakes. You can also reheat as a porridge with more water (or milk/broth) and whisk until smooth.
Notes
Variation:
1) For a special treat, substitute all or some of the water for whey, a byproduct of making ricotta and other cheeses.
2) For cheesy grits, after the grits are finished cooking, stir in grated cheese one handful at a time until it reaches your preferred level of cheesiness.
3) For sweet grits, omit the garlic and bay and add sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple or sorghum syrup.