01 November 2012

Grits avec Triple Cream

Good slow cook grits available here. This is gonna take an hour to an hour and a half.  
1 Cup Grits, 4 Cups water, 2 tsps kosher salt, 2tbsp butter, 4 ounces Triple Cream Cheese


Bring to boil in a copper risotto pan. It does for grits what it does for creamy risotto. I use this.


Bring to simmer. Use more butter if grits start sticking to bottom of pan.  Stir, a lot. 


Set aside 4 ounces triple cream cheese (camouflaged butter) and trim rind off



Catch up on your reading while you stir.


After an hour, deposit triple cream chunks.  Or, you can microwave cheese and add for buttery depth.


No leftovers.

 Creamy grits, like creamy risotto, demand a lot of stirring and a lot of time.  I also happen to like a lot of butter. And that got me to thinking about risotto making and grits.  A risotto pan is perfect for keeping heat even and keeping grits from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Last week a half wheel of triple cream cheese was left over from a party and I wondered if it would work with grits.   Not because I know food -- I just didn't want the cheese to go bad.

The first time, I microwaved the cheese and added it after 60-70 minutes, and stirred for another 10 minutes.  There was a huge and deep mouthful of butter.  Maybe too much. I tried it again and added slices of cheese without the rind. Still buttery but not overwhelming. This is a bit over the top and, to that end, it pairs perfectly with champagne.  It's for a celebration --  Like having power and a toilet that works.
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13 comments:

  1. martylane01 November, 2012 14:33

    When you cook grits with French butter in a $250 pan, aren't you obligated to call it "polenta"?

    ReplyDelete
  2. tintin01 November, 2012 14:47

    martylane- Who are you, Alton Brown? I didn't use olive oil but that's given me an idea...

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  3. Kcaj01 November, 2012 15:34

    Jeeves & Wooster! To this day I believe that material provided Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry with some of their best work.

    Besides Lipitor, wouldn't a few shrimp have rounded-out that dish? -smile-
    http://latitude31jekyllisland.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. tintin01 November, 2012 15:40

    Kcaj- I did shrimp & grits last year:
    I do like that place on Jekyll Island.

    http://thetrad.blogspot.com/2011/04/pat-conroys-shrimp-grits.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Main Line Sportsman01 November, 2012 16:09

    St Andre is a damn fine cheese...hard to imagine it would screww up anything...well maybe a peanut butter and jelly or an ice cream sundae.

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  6. Anonymous01 November, 2012 16:09

    Impressive for a Yankee!

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  7. Anonymous01 November, 2012 23:03

    Sure, a $250 is great if you want an acorn of a handle.

    But seriously, your caught up in the bullshit of consumerism.

    All good copper comes with iron handles and is at least 2.5-3mm thick. Thicker, the better. Some of the best stuff was made in NYC during the 1920's by Duparquet on Wooster street. 3mm before tin.

    Will it make your grits taste better? Yes. Because you don't have to worry about adding a shit-ton of butter (no matter how good more may taste) to keep it from burning on a paper-thin bottom when you leave to drop a turd from the MRE you ate last night.

    ReplyDelete
  8. tintin01 November, 2012 23:55

    Main Line - Try Brillat Savarin. Better and cheaper when you can find it.

    Anon- I'm not a Yankee.

    Anon- great info but I never ate MREs. I ate LRPs. Usually dry and despite giving a man major gas they acted like up a cork up your ass.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous02 November, 2012 09:34

    Cut out the bad food and watch your weight, boy!

    ReplyDelete
  10. ELS02 November, 2012 09:43

    I always thought grits were a vegetable...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous02 November, 2012 13:48

    When I think of grits I always think of the courtroom scene in My Cousin Vinny.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dave T03 November, 2012 00:59

    I might suggest the addition of some bacon. Bacon makes everything better.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Makaga05 November, 2012 09:25

    Hey, Tintin, how'd you fare during the Hurricane? We're you without power for too long?

    ReplyDelete