ISO light and crispy grit cakes....

[phaelon56]

Having on two separate occasions had some remarkably good grit cakes with shrimp in restaurants, I decided to recreate the dish at home. With eGullet, Epicurious and some common sense as my resources, how difficult could it be? Very.

I've seen a variety of recipes and suggestions for technique but they all seem to have refrigeration in common. The cooked grits are chilled until firm, then cut into wedges or rounds and typically fried or baked until crispy on the outside. Some recipes do not call for any additions such as beaten egg and seem to rely on thick grits that are poured out on a sheet into a thin layer. When they're fried the body comes from the crispiness of frying on both sides - not from any inherent body in the grits themselves.

I am using steel cut grits for flavor and texture, reasons, have tried the thin layer technique and have also tried adding beaten egg and baking powder. The result seems to be a slightly creamy mess. If I strive for thicker pieces they don't hold together and the innards are darn near gooey after I bake them.

I do add fresh grated Parmesan, roman, asiago or some combination of same and some seasoning before chilling and frying/baking. Should I be cooking the grits longer or adding less liquid when I first cook them? Should I use just egg whites and leave out the yolks? Is baking powder necessary or desirable?

The restaurant whose grit cakes I'm most interested in reproducing is Lava Bistro in Charlotte NC but I won't be in Charlotte for another month or so and also not sure if the chef would be willing to share the recipe. Theirs are served in wedges a bit smaller than a pizza slice but about 1 1/2 " thick. Perfectly crispy on the outside with out being oily and the inside has a sort of light, almost fluffy texture that I don't typically associate with grits.

[ludja]

I love shrimp and grits and the version you mention sounds very nice. I have only eaten (and made) them with soft cheese grits...

Hopefully someone will pipe up from experience re: fried grits.

I can offer only "written" wisdon from Bill Neal's "Good Old Grits Cookbook". It may be similar to somethings you've already tried...

Make basic boiled grits--

1 cup stone-ground grits

4 cups water

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

2 Tbs unsalted butter

Pour grits into bowl and cover w/cold water--remove any chaff that floats to the surface. Bring the 4 cups of water to the boil, add salt and slowly stir in grits. Cook at a simmer, stirring occasionally until they are done--about 40 min. Take off the heat and add in butter.

Pour into ungreased loaf pan and let cool until firm.

To cook, turn out loaf and slice into 1/2 slices. Dredge slices w/a flour, s&p mix. Heat ~ 1/4 inch of butter in pan over medium-high. Cook on each side ~ 5 min until golden.

(Again--I haven't made these mysefl; Neal is usually very reliable though so it may be worth a whirl. To expand, I trust him implicitlly in his other books I have; I just haven't done much with grits other than plain or cheese and haven't explored this cookbook yet.)

[Greg K]

Could deep frying be the key? I imagine that with a quick dusting of flour and hot (375 peanut?) oil they would come out crispy.

[phaelon56]

It's conceivable that deep frying could be involved but the ones Lava Bistro was serving did not appear to have been fried (it doesn't mean that they weren't but if so they were fried expertly with a light hand).

My current and initial dilemma is that despite overnight chilling and even cooking down the grits so they're denser than normal before chilling, they still don't have the consitency necessary to cut them into wedges or rounds and get them into a fryer or a pan without coming "unglued".

I can recall pulling leftover cheese grits out of the fridge years ago that my former GF made. They were darn near as dense as hockey pucks and could have been sculpted if necessary but would have lacked the light and almost puffy consistency that my desired end result should have. Hers were made with lots of margarine, loads of cheddar cheese and ordinary white grits. I'm not sure which of those factors accounts for the difference in density or if they all do.

[ladyyoung98]

what about adding a tad bit of flour or bread crumbs to help bind it?

[Malawry]

I've made "grit fritters" by cooking some of the excess liquid out of my leftover grits, stirring in some cheese, and then adding an egg or two when the grits have cooled. I then spread them into a pan and chill overnight. The next day, I cut it into squares, dust with breadcrumbs (or not, as the mood dictates), and pan-fry. These don't usually look that pretty, but they taste damned good. They don't have a "puffy" interior--I'd think you could get that with more eggs in the mix. The baking powder sounds to me like it would just add aluminum aftertaste somehow.

I love these grit-fritters, but they spit when they fry. I've had grit-shaped burns from flying frying grits before. Beware.

[melonpan]

youve tried beaten egg and baking powder.... and it didnt work. im kind of sad to hear this as these are the first two things i would try...

"light, almost fluffy texture"...

... have you tried adding more liquid, say more cream or milk or even water during the cooking of the grits? then with softer grits, add in beaten eggs.

here is a <a href="http://brunch.allrecipes.com/az/klhmChsGrits.asp">recipe i found that claims to be fluffy</a>. and no refrigeration required.

[ducphat30]

I am not going to claim that I am a grit expert, but I have had quite a bit of luck making grit cakes once you understand a few of the principles.

Hydration is key for the grits, especially with stone ground grits they need to have up to 5 times the liquid (by volume) so that the starch granules can swell and release their starches into the body of the grits, this will help to hold them together.

If I strive for thicker pieces they don't hold together and the innards are darn near gooey after I bake them.

I am guessing, stress guessing, that they were not cooked long enough. The recipe that I would reccomend for making grits involves bring 2 cups of water and 2 cups of whole milk to a boil with a touch of salt and pepper, whick in 1 cup of grits and place in a 325 F oven. Whisk every 10 minutes or so. You may need and additional cup of liquid to help keep the grits wet. After about an hour, check and make sure the grits are cooked, adjust the seasoning, butter, herbs, cheese salt and pepper, if so pour them out onto a lightly oiled sheet tray and allow it to chill.

Once they have completely cooled, they are easy to cut and lightly pan sear so you get a crisp outside and creamy inside. It also takes a more attentive touch to make sure that the cakes do not get beaten up.

Could deep frying be the key? I imagine that with a quick dusting of flour and hot (375 peanut?) oil they would come out crispy

If you are going to fry them (deep) I would omit additional butter as the fat will coat the starches not allowing them to bond and they would break up totally immersed in the hot fat. If you want to dust them, why not with some fine cornmeal?

Do not be too aggressive with the cheese either, unless it is for soft grits, because as they heat up they lose their structure, as well.

These are all based on observations, trial and error. I cannot provide you with any empirical evidence.

Best of luck, hope this helps.