My wife and I discovered grits on vacation in Florida, and our favourite by far was from a little diner in Clearwater Beach. We ordered the grits, and the server asked us if we wanted to upgrade to Gouda Grits. If you ever find yourself in a situation where someone is asking you if you would like to upgrade to Gouda anything, yell out an emphatic “YES!” and never look back. We’ve made cheesey grits a few times since, playing around with cheese types (regular gouda, smoked gouda, and cheddar are our favourites), and given the simplicity to make and the rich flavours that pair well with Blackened Shrimp, bbq chicken, pulled pork, etc., we keep coming back to this classic. So much so that when I asked my wife what she wanted for her birthday dinner (today!!!), she said “Shrimp and Grits” without any hesitation.
If you find yourself with leftovers (not likely, but humor me here), use them to make our Grit Balls of Fire another day!
Time: 20 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Grits. If you don’t have grits, Corn Meal can sub in in a pinch. It works nearly as well. (a quarter cup of dried grits/corn meal is a good serving)
- Milk (or water, or a mix of the two…but milk gives a creamier texture and fuller flavour). Go with 4 parts liquid per one part grits/corn meal.
- Gouda (or cheese of your choice)
- A little butter
Method:
- In a non-stick sauce pan, melt a little butter, and heat your milk to a simmer.
- While your milk heats, dice or shred your cheese. Err on the side of more cheese because you can never go wrong that way…but if you haven’t got enough cheese, that’s a problem for the ages.
- Whisk in your grits or corn meal. Pour it in slowly, and whisk fast as you do it to avoid clumping. Grits are less likely to clump than corn meal, so keep that in mind when deciding which to use.
- Mix in your cheese, and fold.
- Allow to thicken to desired texture (10-15 minutes)
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
