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Ways to eat grits


Fresser

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Being a Yankee and all, I could use some pointers from y'all on how to eat my grits.

This revelation struck me this morning, as I searched in vain for a bowl into which to pour my grits. None was available, so I plopped them on a dinner plate instead. Sacrilege? Let this poor Yankee know.

Confronted with said plate o' grits, I thought to myself, "Dinner plate or not--I eat my grits with a spoon!" Is this correct? Is any particular utensil verboten for the wholesale shoveling down of grits?

I then proceeded to plop a pair of sunnyside-down grits on top of my grits, in good Southern fashion. Shrimp, as I understand, also make a fine grits-topper, though said crustaceans were nowhere to be found in Fresser's Fridge this morning. What other seafoods can top grits? Scallops? Smoked halibut? Maybe even some lox for a real Southern Jewish breakfast?

And how about fruit toppings for grits? Pineapple Grits for the hungry Hawaiian? Strawberry Grits would be most colorful. And you could make Smiley Face Grits with judiciously arranged blueberries. :laugh:

Come to think of it, the BEST way to eat grits would be with a glamorous Southern Belle sitting on my lap. "Here, Fressah, have some of Honeypie's down-home cookin'!"

There are two sides to every story and one side to a Möbius band.

borschtbelt.blogspot.com

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Grits are typically served on a plate, actually, a side dish to breakfast items like eggs and ham (so functionally the same as hash browns). You eat them with a fork, because of course you're eating all those other items with a fork.

Eating grits with a spoon is decidedly not the sort of behavior that will induce a Southern Belle, glamorous or not, to sit in your lap. She will think that you are insane, and very possibly degenerate, as eating them with a spoon suggests that you've put sugar and milk on them. They're actually quite good this way, but if you do it just tell people you're eating Cream of Wheat.

Most grits are served either plain or with cheese mixed in. Shrimp and grits is a classic combo, and the other is grillades and grits (or grits and grillades) which is grits topped with strips of meat (stewed rather than grilled, actually).

Again, topping with fruits would be a bit odd. Would you top your mashed potatoes with a blueberry smiley face?

Can you pee in the ocean?

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I prefer my grits on the savory side, fruit grits - doesn't sound all that appetizing. Corny tasting strawberries? I will take mine with a little cheese pleeze.

Okay, now that I have rethought it, maybe fruit with fried grits. I try to not completely rule anything out until I have tasted it.

It is good to be a BBQ Judge.  And now it is even gooder to be a Steak Cookoff Association Judge.  Life just got even better.  Woo Hoo!!!

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I prefer my grits on the savory side,  fruit grits - doesn't sound all that appetizing.  Corny tasting strawberries?    I will take mine with a little cheese pleeze.

Okay, now that I have rethought it,  maybe fruit with fried grits.  I try to not completely rule anything out until I have tasted it.

ya know people put strawberries on corn flakes...

My mother used to make what we called "grit pancakes"--essentially fried grit cakes--that we then topped w/ syrup or fruit so I suppose there is a place but you are correct in that I can not imagine an order of regular grits w/ some sliced strawberries on top.

As for how to eat the things much depends on how they are served. I some times just make a big pot of grits for breakfast. We ladle them in to a bowl, add a little cheese, some hot sauce, lots of butter and a bit of salt & freshly ground black pepper and go at it w/ a spoon. If the grits are a side item then what ever utensil is used for eating the rest of the food.

Hmmmm, there might be some money to be made here. We could get a bunch of un-suspecting Yankees to pay handsomely for a "grits spoon". They could be sold at truck stop gift shops, Stuckey's, welcome centers, and alligator farms all over the South. I can see the ad copy now: "Do not be left out! Eat your grits as the good Lord intended and as Rhett & Scarlett enjoyed theirs with this handsome faux silver grits spoon. Just like the one that Aunt Pittypat had in her silver collection--the one that she had to hide from Sherman! No home should be with out a set!"

(I once had a woman believing that the Mimosa trees she had seen on the high way fr/ the air port were actually "grit trees" and we harvested them about twice a year--early Spring and late Fall--b/c you wanted your grits as fresh as possible. If the host of the party had not fallen out of his chair from laughing so hard she would have bought the entire story.)

in loving memory of Mr. Squirt (1998-2004)--

the best cat ever.

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Grits are typically served on a plate, actually, a side dish to breakfast items like eggs and ham (so functionally the same as hash browns). You eat them with a fork, because of course you're eating all those other items with a fork.

Eating grits with a spoon is decidedly not the sort of behavior that will induce a Southern Belle, glamorous or not, to sit in your lap. She will think that you are insane, and very possibly degenerate, as eating them with a spoon suggests that you've put sugar and milk on them. They're actually quite good this way, but if you do it just tell people you're eating Cream of Wheat.

Most grits are served either plain or with cheese mixed in. Shrimp and grits is a classic combo, and the other is grillades and grits (or grits and grillades) which is grits topped with strips of meat (stewed rather than grilled, actually).

Again, topping with fruits would be a bit odd. Would you top your mashed potatoes with a blueberry smiley face?

The answer is yes.....

Yes, I would top my mashed potatoes with a blueberry smiley face. :)

Actually blueberry mashed potatoes could work out pretty well depending on how you made them.

Say, leftover mashed potatoe pancakes with blueberry compote and sour cream?

In KY ( at least where I'm from)... butter and sugar and milk and even raisins are common.

I like them all ways from plain to cheese (especially with BBQ) to sweet to fruit and I eat them with whatever steel, wooden, ceramic and as a last resort... plastic utensil I can get my hands on - depending on who made them - they may or may not be more solid or liquid - so in some cases a fork is just not practical.

I don't eat much sugar anymore but there was a day when sausage, scrambled eggs with cheese and grits with brown sugar and raisins and a glass of iced tea that was at least 1/4 sugar was an ideal breakfast.

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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Hmmmm, there might be some money to be made here.  We could get a bunch of un-suspecting Yankees to pay handsomely for a "grits spoon".  They could be sold at truck stop gift shops, Stuckey's, welcome centers, and alligator farms all over the South.  I can see the ad copy now:  "Do not be left out!  Eat your grits as the good Lord intended and as Rhett & Scarlett enjoyed theirs with this handsome faux silver grits spoon.  Just like the one that Aunt Pittypat had in her silver collection--the one that she had to hide from Sherman!  No home should be with out a set!" 

Sounds like something that would sell like hotcakes at Wal-Mart.

It is good to be a BBQ Judge.  And now it is even gooder to be a Steak Cookoff Association Judge.  Life just got even better.  Woo Hoo!!!

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Being a Yankee and all, I could use some pointers from y'all on how to eat my grits.

This revelation struck me this morning, as I searched in vain for a bowl into which to pour my grits. None was available, so I plopped them on a dinner plate instead. Sacrilege? Let this poor Yankee know.

Confronted with said plate o' grits, I thought to myself, "Dinner plate or not--I eat my grits with a spoon!" Is this correct? Is any particular utensil verboten for the wholesale shoveling down of grits?

As a bona fide GRITS, I'd say you're stretching way too hard to come up with a thread topic. Bowl/plate, fork/spoon....eat the stuff any ol way that suits you. :rolleyes:

CBHall

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I use leftover chicken stock in which to cook my grits. I almost always add cheese-anything from gruyere to smoked cheddar, and I add cream towards the end. I have been known to add shrimp. bacon, jalapenos and fresh sweet corn (though not necesssarily together!). Bowl, plate, spoon, fork, whatever...I don't know that any of that would either inspire me or prevent me from sitting in a man's lap. The quality of his grits is much more important :wink:

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."- Virginia Woolfe

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Being a Yankee and all, I could use some pointers from y'all on how to eat my grits.

I like them with a dash or five of hot sauce. Preferably, Louisiana Gold Pepper sauce when I can get it brought to me up North or after I visit NOLa.

Maybe a pat of butter too.

Thanks,

Kevin

DarkSide Member #005-03-07-06

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To consolidate all above comments -- for a truly elegant dinner-style grit, use chicken stock, HUGE amounts of butter, and white truffle puree. It will knock your freakin' socks off. Serve it as a base (like you would mashed potatoes) epecially with shellfish.

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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To consolidate all above comments -- for a truly elegant dinner-style grit, use chicken stock, HUGE amounts of butter, and white truffle puree.  It will knock your freakin' socks off.  Serve it as a base (like you would mashed potatoes) epecially with shellfish.

what time is dinner??? :laugh:

It is good to be a BBQ Judge.  And now it is even gooder to be a Steak Cookoff Association Judge.  Life just got even better.  Woo Hoo!!!

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The way I look at it is if the grits contain anything that is solid i.e. meat, fish then go for the fork. As noted above, if served with eggs, go for the fork--I like when the yolk of my sunny side up egg sort of blends in, and hell I sort of like when the ketchup on my plate slides on over as well. If the grits are served in a bowl as a side, I'd still use my fork. Now if I fix them for myself, its usually in a bowl with butter, salt, pepper, and if I have any around-some cheddar cheese--the bowl equal spoon to me. I tend to crave grits when i have a sore throat, or dare I say, a hangover. Oh yes, some Texas Pete or Tabasco. Hell, I've used salsa before--but that is a more at home, I'm broke sort of affair. I've never been a sweet tooth, but I know people who use butter and salt. I say the best way to approach grits is consider them redneck polenta!

(note: I'll refrain from dicussing my packets of instant grits I keep in my office desk--cheese flavored, bacon flavored)

Edited by ditsydine (log)

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AMUSE ME

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(note: I'll refrain from dicussing my packets of instant grits I keep in my office desk--cheese flavored, bacon flavored)

Oh, the shame...

I do have packets of instant cheese-flavored grits in my pantry that date from my daughter's brief infatuation with same last year. Hmm, maybe I should clean out my pantry.

Can you pee in the ocean?

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Eating grits with a spoon is decidedly not the sort of behavior that will induce a Southern Belle, glamorous or not, to sit in your lap. She will think that you are insane, and very possibly degenerate, as eating them with a spoon suggests that you've put sugar and milk on them. They're actually quite good this way, but if you do it just tell people you're eating Cream of Wheat.

Back when I was a Nouveau Southerner, I would put maple syrup on my grits. :shock: Now I stick to adding sharp cheddar and a dash of hot sauce, so consider me chastened.

There are two sides to every story and one side to a Möbius band.

borschtbelt.blogspot.com

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(note: I'll refrain from dicussing my packets of instant grits I keep in my office desk--cheese flavored, bacon flavored)

Oh, the shame...

I do have packets of instant cheese-flavored grits in my pantry that date from my daughter's brief infatuation with same last year. Hmm, maybe I should clean out my pantry.

It is awful isn't it..I've even doctored them up with ketchup! I am so going to food hell!

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AMUSE ME

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I am so going to food hell!

Reminds me of a story....

Friend of mine was in the park across the street from where I used to live in my home town.

There were a bunch of kids playing and one of the little girls at the park struck up a conversation

with my friend and they somehow got on the subject of God and the Devil - this child could not have been more than 7 but had obviously been highly educated on the subject of religion and seemed very intelligent for her age.

The end of the exchange went something like this:

Girl: I bet you don't even know what the devil looks like!!!

Aaron: Sure I do... he's scary and red and has a pointy tail and carries a big pitchfork

Girl: Nuh uh fool... the Devil is beautiful... cause he used to be an Angel

My friend was totally floored by that remark - for some reason that has stuck with me.

Suppose it applies well to food - as some of the most evil things you can eat - are the hardest to pass up.

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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As for how to eat the things much depends on how they are served.  I some times just make a big pot of grits for breakfast.  We ladle them in to a bowl, add a little cheese, some hot sauce, lots of butter and a bit of salt & freshly ground black pepper and go at it w/ a spoon.  If the grits are a side item then what ever utensil is used for eating the rest of the food. 

Hmmmm, there might be some money to be made here.  We could get a bunch of un-suspecting Yankees to pay handsomely for a "grits spoon".  They could be sold at truck stop gift shops, Stuckey's, welcome centers, and alligator farms all over the South.  I can see the ad copy now:  "Do not be left out!  Eat your grits as the good Lord intended and as Rhett & Scarlett enjoyed theirs with this handsome faux silver grits spoon.  Just like the one that Aunt Pittypat had in her silver collection--the one that she had to hide from Sherman!  No home should be with out a set!"

I'm actually surprised that no one here has thought to take this idea all the way. By that I mean a grits restaurant--maybe a chain of restaurants, if the idea takes off--located in distinctly "unsuspecting gullible Yankee" territories. These restaurants would follow in the footsteps of those niche restaurants that only serve variations of crepes or rice pudding or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Why, I'll bet we can get folks to eat grits with just about ANYTHING on top or on the side. Besides the most common toppings/sides mentioned above we could offer: grits and natto, grits Marguerita (basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella), grits and Haggus, grits on a bed of foie gras "foam" with caviar "air," deconstructed grits--bring a box of grits, salt, and boiling water to the table and let them figure it out--and bananas foster grits brulee for dessert. And don't forget to charge an obscene amount of money for these dishes. Oh, the possibilities are endless..................

Once this idea has taken off we could then capitalize on Lan4Dawg's idea by offering an entire line of the appropriate grits tableware, sold on QVC or Home Shopping Network, perhaps with a guest spot on Food Network's Food Finds or The Best of or Roker on the Road. I can see a grits empire in the making. :laugh:

Edited by divalasvegas (log)

Inside me there is a thin woman screaming to get out, but I can usually keep the Bitch quiet: with CHOCOLATE!!!

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You could add in cut-up link breakfast sausages once in a while. And make sure, for the authentic Southern bit, to use traditional American breakfast links.

And please, dear God, don't make this.

Not quite Steve, Don't Eat It, but a fair runner-up, I'd say.

Also, you might get your grits here.

Frau Farbissma: "It's a television commercial! With this cartoon leprechaun! And all of these children are trying to chase him...Hey leprechaun! Leprechaun! We want to get your lucky charms! Haha! Oh, and there's all these little tiny bits of marshmallow just stuck right in the cereal so that when the kids eat them, they think, 'Oh this is candy! I'm having fun!'"
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Sorry, but I just can not do the first recommendation. I gave that stuff up when I moved out of my Momma's house.

Now I get my grits here

It is good to be a BBQ Judge.  And now it is even gooder to be a Steak Cookoff Association Judge.  Life just got even better.  Woo Hoo!!!

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I'm originally from Oklahoma, and my mom and grandma used to make a sort of casserole out of grits, Velveeta, garlic powder, and salt and pepper, mixed up with a beaten egg to hold it all together, in a greased casserole dish, then baked in the oven until it set. I remember liking it when I was younger but I'm not sure I'd be so fond of it now.

There is no sincerer love than the love of food. -- George Bernard Shaw
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You could add in cut-up link breakfast sausages once in a while.  And make sure, for the authentic Southern bit, to use traditional American breakfast links.

And please, dear God, don't make this.

Not quite Steve, Don't Eat It, but a fair runner-up, I'd say.

The culinary mavens at Hormel here recommend mixing uncooked grits, Spam, corn, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms and spaghetti sauce into an Easy-Bake casserole. :shock:

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.

There are two sides to every story and one side to a Möbius band.

borschtbelt.blogspot.com

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As for how to eat the things much depends on how they are served.  I some times just make a big pot of grits for breakfast.  We ladle them in to a bowl, add a little cheese, some hot sauce, lots of butter and a bit of salt & freshly ground black pepper and go at it w/ a spoon.  If the grits are a side item then what ever utensil is used for eating the rest of the food. 

Hmmmm, there might be some money to be made here.  We could get a bunch of un-suspecting Yankees to pay handsomely for a "grits spoon".  They could be sold at truck stop gift shops, Stuckey's, welcome centers, and alligator farms all over the South.  I can see the ad copy now:  "Do not be left out!  Eat your grits as the good Lord intended and as Rhett & Scarlett enjoyed theirs with this handsome faux silver grits spoon.  Just like the one that Aunt Pittypat had in her silver collection--the one that she had to hide from Sherman!  No home should be with out a set!"

I'm actually surprised that no one here has thought to take this idea all the way. By that I mean a grits restaurant--maybe a chain of restaurants, if the idea takes off--located in distinctly "unsuspecting gullible Yankee" territories. These restaurants would follow in the footsteps of those niche restaurants that only serve variations of crepes or rice pudding or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Why, I'll bet we can get folks to eat grits with just about ANYTHING on top or on the side. Besides the most common toppings/sides mentioned above we could offer: grits and natto, grits Marguerita (basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella), grits and Haggus, grits on a bed of foie gras "foam" with caviar "air," deconstructed grits--bring a box of grits, salt, and boiling water to the table and let them figure it out--and bananas foster grits brulee for dessert. And don't forget to charge an obscene amount of money for these dishes. Oh, the possibilities are endless..................

Once this idea has taken off we could then capitalize on Lan4Dawg's idea by offering an entire line of the appropriate grits tableware, sold on QVC or Home Shopping Network, perhaps with a guest spot on Food Network's Food Finds or The Best of or Roker on the Road. I can see a grits empire in the making. :laugh:

oh yeah...offer regionalized grits:

North Georgia from Nora's Mill near Helen

up-state fr/ Anson Mills in socar

Appalachian grits fr/ Cade's Cove

Ozark style fr/ War Eagle Mills near F'ville, &c.

then get in to discussions such as: "would you make a Charleston specialty such as shrimp & grits using Appalachian style grits?" or "what is the best type of grit for making a 'grits Marguerita'"?

I could see the sommelier now, "well I believe a good crisp Pinot Grigio would work best w/ the 'grits Marguerita' but I think the preferable match w/ your 'Scottish grits' would be a nice Highlands ale."

of course there would have to be a "grits martini" of some sort as the house specialty drink.....

in loving memory of Mr. Squirt (1998-2004)--

the best cat ever.

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oh yeah...offer regionalized grits:

North Georgia from Nora's Mill near Helen

up-state fr/ Anson Mills in socar

Appalachian grits fr/ Cade's Cove

Ozark style fr/ War Eagle Mills near F'ville, &c.

then get in to discussions such as:  "would you make a Charleston specialty such as shrimp & grits using Appalachian style grits?"  or "what is the best type of grit for making a 'grits Marguerita'"?

I could see the sommelier now, "well I believe a good crisp Pinot Grigio would work best w/ the 'grits Marguerita' but I think the preferable match w/ your 'Scottish grits' would be a nice Highlands ale."

of course there would have to be a "grits martini" of some sort as the house specialty drink.....

How about a nice little Pinot Noir from Oregon to go with Creamy cheese grits with sauted chantrelles?

And a brace of grilled quail with Hoover's Mill and a little mushroom demi?

Edited by joiei (log)

It is good to be a BBQ Judge.  And now it is even gooder to be a Steak Cookoff Association Judge.  Life just got even better.  Woo Hoo!!!

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