Grits so good it will melt your face off!

Trust me when you eat these grits it will be like that Nazi who looked in the Ark in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Last Ark! If you do not get that reference you should take some time out of your day to watch that movie. Since coming to Virginia about 5 years ago, I have heard southerners rave about the southern staple known as grits. I decided to give them a go several years back and almost gagged. Over and over again I was duped by some smooth talking southerner to try them again. Every time I naively gave them another try I was left with the same result, Barf! I admit I didn’t have too high of hopes for grits in places like waffle house or even quick grits from Wal-Mart, but I was confused with the wonderful flavors of southern food and the bland and tasteless flavor of their ever so popular grits. They would tell me to load it up with cheese and butter and bacon, but even with the celestial meat known as bacon I could not choke grits down.

Then I ate at a little restaurant in Lexington known as the Red Hen. (www.redhenlex.com/) One of the main courses included grits and rabbit bacon. I was so excited about the rabbit bacon I completely ignored the grits altogether. When the food arrived I looked at my plate and saw the grits. My heart sank! “Why did I order this?” I thought! Then I decided to just suck it up and give them one last try. This was in fact a high class restaurant. The first bite with the grits and rabbit bacon was like biting into heaven itself! The grits were almost as good as the rabbit bacon, which is on a very short list of the best things I ever ate! From that moment I became a true convert! I knew that not all grits were created equal. So I asked the waitress what kind of grits they used and she said they used stone ground white grits from Wades Mill here in Rockbridge County.

It’s been over a year since I had them and I am not sure why I didn’t make this trip sooner. This Saturday we made a trip to Wades Mill. It was so cool! They use local ingredients from the Rockbridge County Farmers Co-op and stone grind everything from grits, flour, polenta, to barley. They have pancake mixes, bread mixes, and beer bread mixes. I got a small bag of yellow and white grits. Then this morning made creamy stone-ground grits with bacon and cheddar and threw on a fried egg to top it off. It was awesome! Not quite Red Hen quality, but close. If you do not live close to Rockbridge County here is wades mills web site (www.wadesmill.com). Now all my friends out west can order grits if they want to. This recipe is worth your time!

Creamy Stone Ground Grits

Ingredients
4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup coarse stone-ground white grits
1 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preperation
Bring water, salt, and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, then add grits gradually, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat and cook at a bare simmer, covered, stirring frequently, until water is absorbed and grits are thickened, about 15 minutes.
Stir in 1/2 cup milk and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally to keep grits from sticking to bottom of pan, 10 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and grits are thick and tender, about 35 minutes more. (Grits will have a soft, mashed-potato-like consistency.)
Stir in pepper and remaining tablespoon butter.