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.

Holy Week: Shagging

It's about a love of the South. Don't fuck with with me on this... It goes beyond accent. If you're from here -- you'll know it. If you've never seen it -- you owe me.

'Give It Everything'

Love,
What about the things you want?
What about the things you need,
Versus the things you don't have?
You should have,
All of this world's desires,
All of this world's entire
Bounty and beautiful love

Chorus
The stars and the moon
And the birds soar real soon
You should have
All the things that you need
Give it everything
All the world to bring
If you believe in something
You go to give it everything
Love
There's no time to waste
There's no life to take
Believers don't have to make haste

Oh no, but "I love you"
Are more than just some sweet words
"I love you"
Are the sweetest words I ever heard
One thing about I can't explain
That you are the world to me
When you're sure you love me
Show you love tenderly

Chorus

Why should settle for second best
When you haven't tasted all the rest
Listen to me
Listen to my request
You should have all the things you want,
the things you need
All of the things your mind can conceive

Al Green

Pat Conroy's Shrimp & Grits

Not for Passover

Buy good grits

Simmer

Fry bacon


Bake shrimp - That's right. Bake it.

Colby reserve cheddar

Scallions on top

Eat this 'fore it gets cold

This recipe was handed down to Pat Conroy from his father -- whose love of southern food was only matched by my own father. Colonel Conroy was from Chicago and married to a southerner. His radio call sign, "The Great Santini." My father was from Duluth and married to a southerner. His radio call sign, "The Happy Bachelor." A coincidence? I think not.

I eat Shrimp & Grits only three -- maybe four times a year. It's beyond rich. I can feel myself gaining weight with each bite. Prosecco cuts through the fat and melds with the cheddar cheese melted in the grits. I always tweak the recipe. Next time I'll try country ham instead of bacon. Here's how it currently works:

Simmer grits 45 minutes.
Cook bacon.
Clean shrimp (These were Gulf shrimp and perfect).
Douse tray with olive oil and add shrimp.
Season with sea salt and lots of pepper.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350. No need to flip shrimp over.
Plate bowl with grits and add a handful of shredded cheddar.
Add a tablespoon of bacon fat and stir until cheese melts. About 5 seconds.
Crumble bacon on top of grits.
Add shrimp.

It's a huge pain to cook but good stuff to nibble on while you do. Make this for a friend so they'll do the dishes. This doesn't work for leftovers. Eat all you can until you think you'll burst. Like a tick. Do nothing the rest of the day 'cept wish to hell you knew how to cook this in 1984 and could write like Pat Conroy today.

Avery Lucas - A Southerner in NYC...

Newport News, VA to be exact. Wore a red velvet leisure suit to the Jackson 5 concert at the Hampton Coliseum in 1972. Caddy at the Williamsburg, VA Country Club. FIT graduate and a lover of the 30's drape. The only man I know who can speak texture and have any of it make sense. Stints running custom at Saint Laurie, Dunhill and a few he'd just as soon forget.

A new gig with the custom shop at J Lucas Clothiers. Showed me how he had a worn out pair of driving moccs refurbished with a leather sole. They look perfect. Duck canvas pant contrasts with an elegant spread collar shirt and a tie...I've never seen a tie drape like that. His writer is Boyer. Polo shirt is Fred Perry. Hermes...but only the leather goods.

"Taste is emotional. It has spirit and it needs years to marinate." Together we looked out the large window onto Madison Avenue and watched people walk by. Avery smiles, "The other day I was walking down the street and my feet didn't hit the ground because I'm wearing what I want to wear and just as I'm feeling so good a woman walked up to me and said, "You're too elegant to be smoking a cigarette. Put that out." And I did." he laughs. "Or, at least I wanted to."

Pass The Charmin

Why this has never seemed all that crazy to me probably has a lot to do with my father and going to four high schools. What was normal one place was very much like this in another. Consequently, many New Yorkers, some of the most provincial people I've ever met, refuse to consider grits as food. Many Southerners I know, some of the most provincial people I've ever met, refuse to consider gefilte fish as food. I'm with the South this time.

The South In New York

Castillo de San Marcos, FL 2008

Westminster Dog Show - 2007

Palatka, FL- 2008

The Met - 2008

Central Florida - 2008

West Village - 2008

World Golf Village, FL 2008

Ponte Vedra, FL - 2008

Little Italy, NYC - 2008

Murray Brothers, FL - 2007

Neary's, NYC- 2007

Jacksonville, FL- 2008

Little Italy 2007

Ponte Vedra, FL 2008

2nd Ave and 56th - 2008

Broadway Parade - 2008

Ponte Vedra, FL - 2007

Times Square- 2008

Barber Shop, FL - 2007

Barber Shop, NY - 2009

Bodega, NYC - 2008

Convenience Store, FL - 2008

For a little over a year I was back and forth between NYC and Florida. I was always amazed at the contrast between the two and how I felt about each. Arriving in NYC was like sticking my finger in a light socket. Going back to Florida was shifting from 5th to 2nd gear. Thomas Wolfe found it hard to go back. I do too.