GRITS

Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny. Recognize the judge?

Before Fran and I came South, anything and everything I knew about grits I learned from the movie, My Cousin Vinny. In the movie, two New York college students driving through Alabama are arrested and charged with murder. To defend them, they enlist the aid of their cousin Vinny, a shiny-suited,  pointy-shoed hustler of a New York lawyer in an Alabama courtroom before an Alabama judge and jury. The boys' fate hinges upon the eye witness testimony of a good ole boy who swears that, while making his morning grits, he saw the boys' car leaving the scene of the crime. The truth of his testimony will rest on the fact of which kind of grits he was making. Were they the new-fangled quick-cooking instant grits? Or was he busy stirring the old-fashioned traditional grits?  SPOILER ALERT: The answer will be at the end of this post.

Fran and I don't dine out very often. I love to cook and I'm told I am pretty good at it. And usually there is some aspect of the dining out experience that I find disappointing. The exception to the usual is when our son, Eli, is with us. And that experience, and it is alway an experience, we can afford only about once a year. I really only enjoy eating out when the food requires special equipment, hard-to-get ingredients and wisdom and experience beyond my ken. I like to think I know my limits.

On our way South we stopped in Davidson, NC to see our old neighbors, Alan and JoAnn Young. They were both raised in the South.  They  urged us to  try boiled peanuts, Low Country barbecue and shrimp and grits. Now, here were three foods that definitely met my "Let someone else cook it first" criteria. So when our daughter, Milli, flew from London to Boston to Charleston to spend a week with us, we ate at least one meal out five of the seven days. And on four of those occasions I had ---shrimp and grits.

At Eli's Table on Meeting Street, the shrimp and grits was served with tasso gravy.

No Relation:)

Shrimp & Grits from Eli's just as it looked before I dove in

My next S&G experience was at The Glass Onion, a soul food restaurant in a strip shopping center out on the Savannah Highway with black and white tile floors, kraft paper for table cloths and a very talented chef.  His rendition of shrimp and grits changes almost daily, as does his menu.  I had tasso gravy and andouille sausage.

Good food. Not too fancy.

Our most elegant dining experience was at the Restaurant at Middleton Place plantation. The setting is beautiful. And, unlike the  schlock restaurants at most tourist attractions, this restaurant for many years was home to Edna Lewis, doyenne of  traditional Southern Cooking.  On this occasion, the S&G was served with Tasso gravy over Anson Mills Grits.

Dining Room at Middleton Place

Finally, on a Sunday afternoon we went to Pearlz on Magnolia Road just off the Savannah Highway. This very noisy bar/restaurant specializes in oysters. A shucker is always busy behind the bar. The shrimp and grits is always on the menu but the preparation varies daily.  Once again it was tasso gravy and sausage.

Well, how was it you may well ask? I suppose its possible to screw up shrimp and grits. Don't cook the grits long enough so they are still gritty. Don't add enough liquid. Don't stir almost constantly so the grits scorch or burn. Skimp on the artery clogging cream, butter and cheese. Overcook the shrimp. Don't cook the roux until it is deep, deep brown. I suppose it's possible. But you would have to work real hard, or not at all, to do it.

The grits in each of the four dishes I tried were smooth, creamy, rich and flavorful in and of themselves. What's not to like: cream, stock, butter, cheese. Grits are one of those "vehicle" foods like a lettuce and tomato on white bread is a vehicle for mayo. I would have enjoyed them without any gravy or sausage as a side dish for any number of proteins. But the tasso gravy was deep,  spicy, flavorful and balanced. The shrimp was properly cooked. All four dishes were very satisfying; which told me all I needed to know: I can make this dish.

First I needed a recipe. Easily done. Magnolia's Spicy Shrimp, Sausage and Tasso Over Creamy Grits  looked the trick. Then I needed grits. The grits belt runs from Virginia clear through Texas. I was looking for Anson Mills grits. Thank heaven I didn't find them. I took the linen bag of grits available in Charleston's new and very mediocre Whole Foods. Had I found Anson Mills I would have been way to intimidated to try the dish.  The company bio of the "visionary" Glenn Roberts and his "epiphanies" make Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and locavore fame look like a slacker who slinks off to McDonalds  after her restaurant closes. And if you can get past the bio there is this wonderful disclaimer:

We’re fussy. We wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t. Our products are fussy, too. They may look like their grocery store counterparts, but they don’t cook like them! We’ve spent hundreds of hours developing the recipes we offer on this website. These recipes follow the stream of authentic foodways and work beautifully with our products.

So if you purchase our oats or grits, wheat flour or rice, be sure to use the recipes and techniques we provide—at least until you have a good, working feel for the product.

The bottom line is this: our products can’t be relied on to work with standard recipes, and standard recipes can’t be relied on to work with our products.

Ok, so you take that with a couple of grains of sel de mer.  Just show me the grits.

GRITS AND HOMINY CORN

Antebellum Coarse White Grits *

Antebellum Coarse Yellow Grits *

Antebellum Medium White Quick Grits *

Antebellum Medium Yellow Quick Grits *

Colonial Coarse Pencil Cob Grits *

Native Coarse Blue Corn Grits *

Henry Moore Yellow Hominy Corn *

Do I want my grits pre or post the "Recent Unpleasantness"? Give me a break and don't get me started!

So I had my Whole Foods, run of the mill (literally) grits. Now I needed a substitute for Tasso. Tasso is pork shoulder, Cajun spiced and smoked for a short period of time. You sauté the Tasso to render the spicy juices and fat into the pan before adding the chicken stock and roux. A Google Search suggested Chorizo as a substitute. My local Publix had both the chorizo and andouille sausages.

I started with the grits: 1cup heavy cream, 3 cups low sodium chicken stock, salt into a 2 quart sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Add grits stirring all the while. Turn down to simmer. Stirring all the while. Set iPhone timer for 30 minutes. Stirring all the while. Stand over pot for 30 minutes. Stirring all the while. (As a rank beginner I dared not leave the grits for a moment, not one.) After 30 minutes check for creaminess. Stirring all the while. If done add butter and cheddar. Stirring.....When done, keep grits warm over a bain marie, oops, simmering pan of water.

Next came the roux. Butter melted until it stopped foaming and an equal volume of flour stirred in, Stir constantly until the roux is a rich, deep, nut brown. The longer it cooks, the better, so long as it doesn't burn.

Next, the gravy base. Onions and chorizo sautéed until the onions have caramelized and the sausage has given up all its goodness. Add the stock. Bring to boil. Add the roux. Stir until thickened.

Slice and saute the andouille. Assemble the dish. A mess of grits, ladle of gravy and 1/2 dozen sausage medallions. Voila.

My Shrimp and Grits with chorizo gravy and andouille sausage

I will leave it to my editor and food taster and tester to render her own opinion of my version here.  Fran: It was delish.  But I think it would be worth it to get some Tasso online.

BTW, store any leftover grits in the fridge.  To reheat, microwave for a minute or so. Then add a little of any of the liquids in the grits and stir to loosen them up and make them  creamy once again. Grits, thy middle name is stir.

Shrimp and Grits: Endless variations.

SPOILER: The witness was, of course, cooking traditional grits in the kitchen at the back of his house. He could not have seen the car out of his front window unless he left the grits to scorch and burn, which, of course he would not admit to.