[CH] Roberto's Hot Grits Casserole

Rob Solarion (solarion@1starnet.com)
Fri, 21 Dec 2001 20:28:07 -0600 

Dear Chile-Heads:

A while back, George G. posted a recipe for grilled grits.  So I decided to
make some, but not to grill them.  Here is what I ended up doing, and I
thought that it was quite delicious.  There are a million ways to prepare
grits, I am sure.  They are basically bland and can be flavored however one
likes.  I have heard about Italian polenta.  What is the difference between
Italian polenta and American grits?  I don't remember ever eating any
polenta, which is odd.

ROBERTO'S HOT GRITS CASSEROLE

Ingredients

1/2 heaping cup of grits
2 cups (1 can) of Swanson's Chicken Broth with Italian herbs
8 green onions (scallions), finely diced (about 1/2 cup, 1 small bunch)
2 very large cloves of garlic, finely minced (about 2-3 Tablespoons)
4 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)
3 hot peppers, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup -- I used three different ones
   1 jalapeņo, 1 serrano, 1 yellow chile -- for color mainly)
1/2 cup of grated white extra-sharp Cabot Vermont cheddar cheese
Cavendar's Greek Seasoning
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1/2 cup of grated extra-sharp yellow Kraft cheddar cheese
Ethiopian "mitmita" for garnish (optional)

Procedure

Once you start to cook this dish, it goes very fast, so make sure that all
of the ingredients are prepared in advance.

Heat the chicken broth to boiling, and add the grits.  Stir rapidly for a
few moments to make sure that the grits do not stick to the bottom of the
pot, and stir regularly to check on this.  Next, add the scallions, garlic,
tomatoes and hot peppers.  Stir well.  Then reduce the heat to low.  Add
the white cheddar cheese and stir well.  Then sprinkle on some Greek
seasoning and grind on some fresh black pepper.  Stir again.  Simmer on low
heat for about 5 minutes more, until the grits are soft.  Taste them to
check.  Then remove the pot from the stove.

Pour some olive oil into a standard-size pie plate, and swirl it around
with your fingertips to grease the dish.  Pour/spoon the grits mixture into
the pie plate and smooth it out.  It will look like a pie, more or less.
Then whilst the grits casserole is still hot, sprinkle on the yellow
cheddar cheese, and let it sit uncovered for a while, till the yellow
cheddar melts and it cools to room temperature.  You can eat it warm or at
room temperature, which I prefer with many foods.  This will serve 4 in
medium portions, or 2 generously.  I covered the leftover with plastic wrap
and kept it overnight, not in the refrigerator.  It was still good the next
day.

Note : Before you add any salt to this recipe, check the taste first.  I
thought that it might need some salt; but when I tasted it, no, it needed
none.  And be careful about the amount of Cavendar's seasoning which
contains salt.

I always keep some Ethiopian "mitmita" on hand.  It is a hot-pepper blend
that is available at Ethiopian markets (in Dallas, the Meru Market on Park
Lane).  It has an excellent flavor, so I sprinkled some "mitmita" on top of
this casserole.  It was a very unusual combination of flavors.

America is not only the "melting pot" of people.  We are the "melting pot"
of world cuisines, as well.

Happy New Year!  Roberto Solarion near Dallas

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