Can someone help me with grits please? I have never cooked them and have a

M

Marg CDN

Well-known member
bag here but don't know whether this is considered medium or coarse.

I'm going to try the shrimp and feta cheese recipe from Epi tonight. I know these are definitely not fine as I have purchased Hominy Grits that look like coarse corn meal. (and threw the bag out when nothing happened with it)

The bag I have has grains that look like coarse salt, maybe 2/3 the size of a split lentil.

If someone would please tell me what to expect in terms of cooking time and liquid, I would be grateful.

Many thank yous.

 
When cooking grits the ratio of liquid to grits is 4:1 m

If you are cooking something like shrimp and grits with added cheese, it is nice to use part milk for the liquid.
Bring the liquid to a boil, add salt, add grits, turn the flame down and cook until thickened. If you have long cooking grits, it may be like polenta and take 30 minutes. If they are "quick cooking" it will take 5 minutes. You do not want instant grits under any circumstances except camping trips.

 
My package doesn't say what the heck these are. Is there a clue to the

quick cookingness of these things? These look pretty crunchy. I can't find any help by googling as there are no closeups.

I guess I could just do a sample to start and see how long it takes and how much water. I'll start with your 4:1 ratio and see how long it takes.

thank you for the help.

 
Are they yellow or white? If white, cook until

they are "done". Start early, keep cooking, you can't overcook.

 
Hi Marg. What you have in your bag is REAL grits, the kind any real grits-loving southerner wants>>

to eat. Durward is right, the proportion is 4 parts water to 1 part grits. You can put the grits in before the water starts to boil, even when it is cold. You'd use salt in the water. The grits will take about 25 minutes to cook, covered, and you have to stir them occasionally. What you have are possibly water-ground grits which means that the hominy was ground by a big stone wheel powered by water from a stream that turns the wheel. The texture will be coarser and chewier than what the recipe you want to use calls for. Those kind of grits that you can buy in a box in any grocery store in the south are all very even textured, like coarse cream of wheat. Usually stone ground or water ground grits are hard to find in a grocery chain store. The reason grits were "invented" is so that you can eat butter, and lots of it, without guilt. The best way to eat grits is to put a big pile on your plate and shove about 1 T. butter in the middle of the pile. When it melts, the grits form kind of a "swimming pool" for the butter. You take a little bit off the edge and dip into the butter and eat. Add more butter if needed!!!!

 
Had some just yesterday (1/9)

they do sound like stone ground grits. 1 to 4 is correct. To serve 4-6, I usually count on 1/2 c grits to 2 c water, plenty of salt and a dollop of mayo (secret ingredient). Boil gently until most of the water is absorbed. Stir a lot. This should take around 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low simmer and add 1/2 and 1/2 cream (could use milk. I tried chicken stock to be healthy - yuck) as the grits start to get thick. Cook for at least 30 minutes more, stirring and adding cream as necessary. Add at least a couple Tbs of butter, and of course add more butter after you serve youself.
If you have leftovers, put them in a shallow square, rectangular dish. Refrigerate. At another meal, cut the now firm grits into squares, powder with corn meal and saute in butter until golden - grit cakes. Very tasty.

 
Thank you all. This was very informative. We really don't come across grits in this country and

I really do try everything. And I've never tried them in the south either. Strange. I don't even know where I got this bag here but I'm going to look for it again as it was terrific.

So now I know what I have. The cooking process certainly confirmed the information you've provided. I'm guessing that the idea is to produce a creamy dish and that's what it was. I would have preferred chevre with this, but I'm on to trying some others now anyway. Or maybe just as you suggest Gail...grits and butter.

thank you for helping.

 
Question, could these be used for polenta dishes? Always wondered what

the difference is.

 
Magnolia's Spicy Shrimp, Sausage and Tasso Gravy over Creamy White Grits

Marg, this is delicious. And easy to make even if you can't find the tasso. Just look up a recipe for tasso meat and add the spices. It won't be exactly the same, but good enough.

These directions for grits work well. The heavy cream gives a delightful taste--This dish made me suddenly realize how terrible all the grits I had tasted up till then had been. I finally understood what all the fuss was about.

I didn't have this meal at Magnolias; we had it at Anson's. But all the other meals we had at Magnolia's were great.

http://www.aaa-recipes.com/grits/grits16.html

 
AngAK, I think that...

polenta grain is finer than grits, closer to cornmeal size. And I have only seen yellow polenta, while in the grit world, there are white, speckled and yellow ones. I know fried polenta is very good, almost as good as a fried grit. I would think that if you can not find grits you could, in a pinch, use polenta.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top