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All about Grits

Man, that's nasty. I just lost my appetite. And that 2 hours before dinner....:eek

You, it would seem obvious, have never tried grits.
They're bland of and by themselves; it's how they're prepared that gives them flavor.
Try baked cheese and garlic grits with smoky bacon. Delicious!
Search "allrecipes.com" for several tasty ideas on how to cook grits.

I swear that in another life I was a southerner.
 
Wait! Per above-try cheesy grits! it turns that tasteless pile of "kindergarden paste" into something delectable! You don't pile the cheese on top-it goes in then you bake it.


Easier method: make the grits per instructions on the package. When they are cooked, add lots of shredded extra sharp cheddar to the mix and stir in with vigor. Mmmmmmmmmmm Mana from heaven :eat

Since it is 6:15 am here, I just made myself very hungry for breakfast. Cheese grits and sour dough toast. And lots of Community Dark Roast Coffee. Actually I am starting my second pot of the morning since I have been up since 3am reading a Clive Cussler book. :laugh

BTW: Lacking cheese, lots of butter will make a great breakfast too . Or add some spicy sausage and gravy. All kinds of ways to prepare them.



Polenta makes a good grit substitute.

They are the same thing, different name:

From "CookingClarified.com" :

Grits and polenta are both dried corn. When cooked, both are also referred to as cornmeal mush. TheyÔÇÖre each cooked until theyÔÇÖre thick and creamy and are like a blank canvas for toppings and stir-ins like cheese, sauteed veggies, meats, poultry and seafood.

HereÔÇÖs how theyÔÇÖre different. Grits are made by grinding white corn or dried hominy (dried corn thatÔÇÖs been soaked, with the hulls and germs removed) into tiny granules. Grits are available in quick-cooking and instant varieties. Grits are a popular side dish in the South, where theyÔÇÖre often accompanied by shrimp or fried fish.

Polenta, which is typically served with Italian fare, is made from ground yellow corn. ItÔÇÖs slightly coarser than grits in texture and once itÔÇÖs cooked, polenta can be cooled, cut into shapes and grilled or fried. Polenta can also be purchased in a tube already cooked, ready to be sliced and cooked further.
 
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The meat packing plant where I worked in KS in the 1960's, we made mush and sold it round/sq in wrappers for frying. I have to admitt, that at that time I had no clue about grits. Nobody around me ate them . They are really not a food factor here in KY much either as not quite far enough south. Cheesy grits basic recipe is on the side of the pkg..
 
My wife, a Southern Belle, introduced me to grits, just about started divorce proceedings :laugh I tried cheese grits a couple times and it depended on how much cheese was on it. Cheese and/or catchup pretty much makes ANYTHING taste at least palatable.
 
My wife, a Southern Belle, introduced me to grits, just about started divorce proceedings :laugh I tried cheese grits a couple times and it depended on how much cheese was on it. Cheese and/or catchup pretty much makes ANYTHING taste at least palatable.

Not if you hate cheese and ketchup. :scratch


I grew up on grits. I like em if they're not all runny. Shrimp & grits is newer to me, guess it's a "Low Country"
(coastal Carolina and/or Georgia) thang? But I like em. My mom used to make baked grits. From what I remember, it was a Charleston (SC) recipe from one of her relatives there? Might have that wrong. I recall her baked grits being SLIGHTLY "cheesy" but grits was still the dominant feature by far- the cheese was WAY down the line. For sure, there was eggs in the recipe. They were great.

Polenta is a whole different thing- I've had it in Northern Italy where cultural backgrounds & traditions kind of blur, and I've seen polenta used in South American recipes, maybe even in Mexican down country cooking? We buy it from time to time, pre-cooked in a "tube". I slice it off and fry it.

Corn "products", is something I avoid- I feel we get too much corn (WAY TOO MUCH) in our daily diet of prepared food products available at the grocery stores now a days. Believe me, corn shows up in places God never intended it to be. Corn syrup, corn by-products, and ethanol? fuhgeddabouddit. I have a personal boycott on corn by-products, thanks very much.
 
Easier method: make the grits per instructions on the package. When they are cooked, add lots of shredded extra sharp cheddar to the mix and stir in with vigor. Mmmmmmmmmmm Mana from heaven :eat

Since it is 6:15 am here, I just made myself very hungry for breakfast. Cheese grits and sour dough toast. And lots of Community Dark Roast Coffee. Actually I am starting my second pot of the morning since I have been up since 3am reading a Clive Cussler book. :laugh

BTW: Lacking cheese, lots of butter will make a great breakfast too . Or add some spicy sausage and gravy. All kinds of ways to prepare them.





They are the same thing, different name:

From "CookingClarified.com" :

Grits and polenta are both dried corn. When cooked, both are also referred to as cornmeal mush. TheyÔÇÖre each cooked until theyÔÇÖre thick and creamy and are like a blank canvas for toppings and stir-ins like cheese, sauteed veggies, meats, poultry and seafood.

HereÔÇÖs how theyÔÇÖre different. Grits are made by grinding white corn or dried hominy (dried corn thatÔÇÖs been soaked, with the hulls and germs removed) into tiny granules. Grits are available in quick-cooking and instant varieties. Grits are a popular side dish in the South, where theyÔÇÖre often accompanied by shrimp or fried fish.

Polenta, which is typically served with Italian fare, is made from ground yellow corn. ItÔÇÖs slightly coarser than grits in texture and once itÔÇÖs cooked, polenta can be cooled, cut into shapes and grilled or fried. Polenta can also be purchased in a tube already cooked, ready to be sliced and cooked further.

So, they're the same, but different?
 
Not if you hate cheese and ketchup. :scratch


I grew up on grits. I like em if they're not all runny. Shrimp & grits is newer to me, guess it's a "Low Country"
(coastal Carolina and/or Georgia) thang? But I like em. My mom used to make baked grits. From what I remember, it was a Charleston (SC) recipe from one of her relatives there? Might have that wrong. I recall her baked grits being SLIGHTLY "cheesy" but grits was still the dominant feature by far- the cheese was WAY down the line. For sure, there was eggs in the recipe. They were great.

Polenta is a whole different thing- I've had it in Northern Italy where cultural backgrounds & traditions kind of blur, and I've seen polenta used in South American recipes, maybe even in Mexican down country cooking? We buy it from time to time, pre-cooked in a "tube". I slice it off and fry it.

Corn "products", is something I avoid- I feel we get too much corn (WAY TOO MUCH) in our daily diet of prepared food products available at the grocery stores now a days. Believe me, corn shows up in places God never intended it to be. Corn syrup, corn by-products, and ethanol? fuhgeddabouddit. I have a personal boycott on corn by-products, thanks very much.



Polenta in PA Dutch cuisine is called mush. I always preferred mush made with roasted corn meal vs the yellow meal common to Polenta. If the mush is made with butchering kettle scraps, it's called Ponhaus or Scrapple. As you said, slice and fry. Cover with syrup, jam or jelly.

The PA Dutch mastered the art of feeding the family from the hog feed bin...............Something most decent Germans would never have done.
 
Who would have thought that grits would generate three pages to date .:scratch

Question for polenta users: What kind of tube does the pre-cooked stuff come in ? Something like a biscuit tube ? Is is found in the refrigerated foods section or what ?
 
Mmmm, Ponhaus!
With cheese and ketchup.
Make mit der schnappy!

I was told by a German friend that prior to re-unification, bad West German children were sometimes threatened with deportation to East German were they ate food like Ponhaus.
 
Who would have thought that grits would generate three pages to date .:scratch

Question for polenta users: What kind of tube does the pre-cooked stuff come in ? Something like a biscuit tube ? Is is found in the refrigerated foods section or what ?
Like I stated we wrapped it in a plastic wrapper-was cellophane then but many here are not into that term so I said plastic. You slice it cold, then fry. I can eat it if no other choices but would be more likely to say, no thanks. We did sq & rd as some would choose one, some the other. I see mush/polenta as like/same as grits that are kept cold and in a the form of a loaf.
One of my son;s is on the "health food kick" & no longer eats our fresh or frozen creamed corn(no cream,etc. just cut off that way) when home. Mind you we eat healthy & from the garden and my hillbilly wife CAN COOK! And I don't mean fried everything either!
On this avoiding corn-at least "our corn", I really don't get it?:banghead Our corn is not only organic, it is loaded with lots of nutrtition. Should we eat it morning , noon & night, of course not but a couple times a week goes well with me.:wave One of my SIL's is a licensed Masters Deg., nutritionist & she eats it, so it has to be OK?
Nobody has gotten into white vs. yellow grits yet (see this can go on longer) and I'm just waiting in the closet for a new thread on cornbread! My KS mother was a great cook & came from many great cooks past and she made the sweet version which wouldn't float at all here in E KY where a pone of cornbread is a staple of life! Then there are "soup beans" another regionally variable food...
These are similar to oil threads, don't you agree?:banghead
 
a new thread on cornbread! My KS mother was a great cook & came from many great cooks past and she made the sweet version which wouldn't float at all here in E KY where a pone of cornbread is a staple of life! Then there are "soup beans" another regionally variable food...
These are similar to oil threads, don't you agree?:banghead

I was raised on cornpone, a corn bread made with roasted (brown) corn meal and usually sweeter than the southern bread substitute. It was served as a desert item usually with milk or ice cream ala mode.

Soup beans? Navy, great northern, pinto, etc. with ham or Ox tail.
 
What have I done?
Then again, what better place to talk about food than sitting around a campfire?
Anyone for a discussion about favorite camping meals?
 
I was raised on cornpone, a corn bread made with roasted (brown) corn meal and usually sweeter than the southern bread substitute. It was served as a desert item usually with milk or ice cream ala mode.

Soup beans? Navy, great northern, pinto, etc. with ham or Ox tail.

Here in E KY the "pone" makes reference to a large pan of cornbread( never sweet here) usually made in an iron skillet. The sticks are also popular.
 
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