Grits - grace grits and gardening

Grits Soufflé (perfect southern side)

March 13, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

(This post is sponsored by Bourbon & Boots. All opinions are my own.)

If you know anything about me, you know I love grits. Heck, I even named my blog after one of my favorite southern foods.

Today at Bourbon & Boots, I’m writing about why I love grits and why you should too. I’ve also doctored up one of my favorite recipes and turned it into a full blown grits soufflé that rises and everything.

My recipe is over at Bourbon & Boots so click HERE and I’ll meet you there.

Grace Grits and Gardening

P.S. Be sure to spend some time looking around at all the unique, handmade items available. Bourbon & Boots truly is a breath of fresh Americana air in the on-line shopping world. There’s still time to save 5% on any Bourbon & Boots purchase with my coupon code bloggracegg14…

Smoked Cheddar Cheese Grits Souffle

October 19, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

This is my favorite grits recipe. And we Girls Raised In The South love our grits.

Great as a breakfast food or brunch dish, it also works as a main vegetarian course for supper with a basic green salad. Add grilled shrimp or ribs with a side of collard greens and your husband will propose to you again.

A perfect side with your Thanksgiving turkey.

Very versatile, this is the most requested dish in my house any season of the year loved by my vegetarian daughter and carnivore son/husband.

Ingredients:

Serves 8

1 1/2 cups quick grits (the five minute grits)

1 pound of smoked cheddar cheese, grated (Tillamook is my favorite)

3/4 cups butter

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Worcestershire Sauce (to taste)

Cayenne Pepper (to taste)

• Grate the cheese. This is the hardest part. I can never find smoked cheddar cheese already grated. And it must be smoked. And it must be grated so that it will melt smoothly.

• Preheat the oven to 350F.

• Cook grits according to directions on box. (3 to 1 ratio works for me. 3 times the water as dry grits.)

• Once the grits are done, stir in the butter. You can eat it now, but then you won’t be able to say you made a soufflé. Every southern girl wants to make a soufflé.

• Temper your eggs. This means, pour a tiny bit of the egg mixture into the hot grits mixture whisking like crazy. Then pour a bit more. And so on until all the egg mixture is incorporated. If you pour all the eggs in at once, you will have scrambled eggs on top of your grits. If this happens, you may as well throw on a strip of bacon and call it a breakfast bowl like some odd dish at a fast food restaurant. Or start over.

• Add cheese and stir. If you eat them now you will have cheesy grits – yum. Of course at this stage there are raw eggs inside. Some frown on this, but raw cookie dough (with raw eggs) has never killed me, so I say at least have a few bites. Plus you’re gonna want to lick the spoon. Like chocolate cake batter.

• Add the dry mustard, Worcestershire and cayenne to taste. I like it spicy, but a little goes a long way.

• Pour into a shallow 2-quart baking dish. No need to grease because there is so much butter in the mixture. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until it sets.

You can add other ingredients to it such as chopped peppers, onions or a different type of cheese. But why? Everyone will rave about this. It’s that good.

Recipe adapted from A Texas Hill Country Cookbook

talya

Give your farmhands (that is, your children) cold cereal for breakfast and see how many rows they hoe. Make them a pot of grits and butter, and they’ll hoe till dinner and be glad to do it. – Janis Owens, The Cracker Kitchen

This is Day 5 (last day!) of BLOGtober Fest with Arkansas Women Bloggers. Theme (Foodie Friday) Favorite Fall Recipes…

Like the First Morning

August 15, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

Finally. A soaking rain in Dallas. Complete with an impressive lightning display cracking and splitting the black sky into puzzle pieces, illuminating my late night bedroom. Lucy and Annabelle, having forgotten the sensation, burrowed deeply underneath the bedsheet, touching my toes. Sleeping weather.

This morning, an extra long walk, the temperature unexpectedly pleasant after the rain. Water puddled on the sidewalks and streets. Honest to goodness puddles capable of respectable splashes. Forty years ago I would have sloshed right through each water hole wearing bright yellow rain boots.

The birds appreciated the rare rain. Joyful, chirping and chattering, sounding more like early spring than tired summer. Like the first morning, like the first bird.

The trees, relieved, stood a bit taller. For a brief moment, the entire city was relieved, fresh from the world.

An unseen squirrel scampering on an overhead branch doused us with rainwater from drippy leaves. On purpose I think. Forty years ago I would have shaken the branches myself, running underneath the shower like a backyard sprinkler. In my bright yellow rain boots.

The rain enhanced the morning smells, intensifying the dirt and grass and pollen. Underneath a neighbor’s cedar tree, the aroma was intoxicating, the peppery smell itching my nose, making me sneeze. Lucy and Annabelle rooted around like armadillos.

Nearly back home, I slipped off my tennis shoes and walked barefoot, my feet sinking into the sweetness of the spongy grass. Like the first day.