When it comes to grits, it’s the rare non-Southerner who has anything good to say about them. Most might echo the sentiments of Pat Conroy’s Chicago-born Bull Meecham, who reflects in “The Great Santini” that “all the totems of (his) disenchantment with the South could be carved from pillars of congealed grits.”
In Conroy’s novel, Meecham’s Southern wife serves her husband grits every morning for breakfast and every morning he refuses to touch them, and this drama becomes a Civil War in miniature, a domestic re-enactment of North-South intransigence.
Although other Southern foods, like fried chicken or barbecue, have lost their regional stamp and become national dishes, the same thing isn’t true of grits. Like drinking Coca-Cola for breakfast, eating grits is one those Southern habits that seems a little bizarre to the rest of us.
This disdain for grits has begun to change in the culinary world, thanks to a few things: One of them is the rise of a new Southern cooking, exemplified by chefs like Alabama’s Frank Stitt, North Carolina’s Ben Barker and South Carolina’s Marvin Woods.
It’s also been helped by the efforts of Anson Mills founder Glenn Roberts. The Charleston, S.C.-based Roberts uses wheels made of local granite to grind his own grits from organic heirloom grains. His product has been enthusiastically promoted by culinary heavyweights like Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter, who features them in his dish of Morels With Yellow Corn Grits, Okra and Morel Juices.
Anson Mills’ grits have a big, clean corn flavor. At the restaurant, we use them in the cheddar grits we serve with our braised short ribs, as a side dish at brunch sprinkled with scallions and, cooked and chilled, in a chicken hash topped with poached eggs and served with a tomato caper sauce.
Although most Southerners prefer the milder flavor of white grits, I make mine from yellow grits. I like the golden color and the bigger flavor they give.
John Broening cooks at Duo restaurant, .
Cheddar Cheese Grits
Makes about 6 cups.
Ingredients
5 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup stone ground yellow grits (preferably Anson Mills)
1 cup sharp white cheddar, grated
Freshly ground pepper
Directions
In a heavy-bottomed 3- quart pot, bring the milk and salt to a boil. Whisk in the grits, stirring constantly.
Turn the heat down to low. Whisk the mixture often, being sure to get in the corners of the pot. Cook about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pot.
Stir in the cheddar, ground pepper and additional salt if necessary. Serve immediately.
