Grind Your Own

My friend, Ann, decided to enrich the cooking environment of Lucindaville with a grain grinder for Christmas, as we always wanted to make our own grits. However, grain grinders are ghastly expensive, so I promised to keep a lookout for scratch-and-dent model. Of course I found one and Ann came through, though it was a bit before the Christmas deadline. We couldn't resist giving it a spin.

First we ground some blue corn. Since this was our first experiment, our grits came out more of a cornmeal. Grits -- cornmeal who cares, they were our cornmeal. So we took the cornmeal and made cornbread. We made the cornbread with the cornmeal and Doe Run eggs. Just a reminder, the eggs at Doe Run Farm have the most vibrant orange yolks, so the eggs acted, not only as a binder, but as a food coloring. So the blue cornmeal and orange yolks made for a strangely colored cornbread.


But still, beyond yummy. By Christmas, we should have the kinks worked out.

Y'all Get Your Ass Out Of Bed...

I'm not much of breakfast eater, but on the weekends I indulge. One of my favorite breakfast dishes is the Y'all Get Your Ass Out Of Bed & Grab A... Breakfast Burrito. It is a fusion of Old South and Nuevo Tex-Mex cuisine that I am trying valiantly to pioneer.

If you read recipes over at Cookbook Of The Day (which has lately been more like Cookbook Of The Week) you will notice that I love early 20th century cookbooks that give a list of ingredients and little else. Well, that's just the kind of cook I am. Much like Eudora Welty's mother who never included directions. When Welty questioned this method, her mother replied, "any cook worth her salt would know, given a list of ingredients, what to do with them."

So without further ado, and with both literal and technical instructions here is how you too, can make my favorite Y'all Get Your Ass Out Of Bed & Grab A... Breakfast Burritos.

The first step requires a bit of a planned over. A Planned Over is an ingredient that one cooks during their time in the kitchen with no plan for eating it that meal, but with the expressed intention of using it later in life. Grits are the perfect Planned Over. You can make a big bunch of them while you are cooking anyway. When you are done cooking them, simply spread them in a nice container to use later. The uses are endless. The nice thing about cooking grits for later use is their remarkable ability to hold their shape, which makes cutting them into unique and decorative shapes a joy.

Planned Over Grits

4 cups water
1 cups "quick" grits
1 teaspoon salt

Bring the water to a furious boil in a saucepan with a cover.

Add the salt.

Pour the grits into the water slowly and stir until the water returns to a boil.

Immediately turn down the heat*, cover, and cook undisturbed for 5 minutes.

Allow the grits to cool for about 5 minutes, then pour them into a container. While they are still warm, take a sheet of cling film or plastic wrap and lay directly on top of the grits to prevent a "crust" from forming. Cover tightly and refrigerate.

* if you have an electric stove, remove the grits from the hot heating element and set on a different element set to low. On a gas stove, turn the gas down so that there is barely a flame.

When you are ready to use them, simply unmold and slice.

Y'all Get Your Ass Out Of Bed & Grab A... Breakfast Burrito

Literally, heat up the sliced grits in the stove or microwave, scramble some sausage and eggs, warm up the tortilla spread with some cheese, add the grits, add the scramble, roll it up and eat.

More technically to serve 4:

4 flour tortilla, preferably, tomato or spinach or pepper which vicariously fulfills the need for a vegetable

4 slices of Planned Over grits, cut about 1 X 1 inch slices

4 ounces breakfast sausage

5 eggs, mixed slightly

1 cup grated cheese

On a slightly oil baking sheet, arrange the grits slices and heat in a 375 F oven for 5 minutes.

In a large skillet, fry the sausage until done, about 5 minutes.

On another baking sheet, spread the four tortillas and sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese on each tortilla and put in the oven until the cheese melts, about 2- 3 minutes.

Add the eggs to the sausage and scramble until set, about 2 minutes.

Remove the grits and tortillas from the oven.

To Assemble:

Add a slice of grits to the warmed tortilla

Top with some scrambled sausage eggs

Roll up and serve

Feel free to add some chow-chow or salsa if you are so inclined, it's another vegetable, you know.

Enjoy.

Stuffed Grits Cups

I would eat grits every day, so when I cook them, I tend to "overproduce" as they make a wonderful planned-overs for another day. One of my favorite planned-over dishes is stuffed grits cups. The make a great breakfast, lovely luncheon and nice hors d'oeuvres.

This recipe can be made from scratch, but the grits need to sit overnight, so it really lends itself to leftover grits. You will need about 1 1/2 cups of prepared grits, so cook extra! This dish works best if you have one of those mini-cheesecake pans. The ones that look like little muffin tins but posses removable bottoms. You can use the mini-muffin pans but extraction is a bit more time consuming.


The basic process is as follows. Cook the grits and pour them into the tins. Let them cool for a while, then form a thumb-sized impression into the grits. Use the end of a wood spoon or, if your hands are clean, just use you finger (be careful as they may still be quite hot). Cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge. The next morning, remove the cups from the pan and place on a baking sheet. For breakfast, fill the indentation with cooked sausage balls, or quail eggs and heat in the oven. For luncheon, try the same filling, but serve the cups on a bed of pipérade or ayvar. For an hors d'oeuvre, fill the indentation with sour cream and top with caviar.

Stuffed Grits Cups

3/4 cup quick grits
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated cheese (optional)
3 ounces sausage
6 quail eggs

Bring the water and salt to a rapid boil. Stir the boiling water and add the grits in a constant, gradual stream until they are incorporated into the water. Grits will clump up if you just dump them into the water, so add them slowly.

Immediately, reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover the grits. Cook for 5 minutes. Then add the grated cheese and stir till melted into the grits

Pour into the mini-cheesecake pan. Let cool for about 15 minutes and form an indentation in each cup.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350

Remove the grits from the tins and place on an oiled sheet pan.

Form the sausage into meatballs and sauté. Stuff the meatballs into half of the grits cups. In the the other half, carefully break a quail egg and fill the indentation.

Bake until eggs are set, about 10 minutes.

It's now up to you. Use whatever cheese or sausage you like... or have on hand. Add Parmesan and use Italian sausage or try manchego and chorizo. Give this recipe a try. you won't be disappointed.

Scallops and Grits

Over at my Cookbook of the Day blog, we featured Nathalie Dupree's Shrimp and Grits. I thought of that book because last week I made "Scallops and Grits." Check out Dupree’s book and the original recipe for shrimp and grits. Then try these scallops and grits.



Scallops and Grits

1 cup quick cook grits, not instant
4 cups water
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
2 strips of bacon
2 scallions, slice with the white and bit of the green tops
1 clove garlic, crushed
4-5 large scallops
1 tablespoon butter


In a skillet, fry the 2 strips of bacon till crispy, remove from pan and drain on a paper towel. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease. When cool, crumble the bacon.

Add the grits to boiling water in a medium saucepan and stir continuously, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 1/2 cup of cheese until incorporated into the grits.

In the skillet with the bacon grease, add the crushed garlic and the scallions and sauté about 1 minute. Add the scallops and sauté about 2 minutes on one side, then turn and cook 2 minutes on the other side. Add the butter allowing it to melt.

Place the grits in a bowl. Spoon the scallops over the grits, and garnish with the crumbled bacon.