Kiss My Grits, or at least eat them

It’s been a Halloween tradition that I bring my  Posole/Fish stew to Sonoma and set up a home base at my pals Maureen and Mike’s house while the kiddies go out trick or treating. Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday but with good food and wine (Mike works for Gloria Ferrer, who in addition to their more famous sparkling wines make an underrated chardonnay), it’s a lot of fun.
This year I made far too much posole and have been experimenting ever since. The most successful has been this breakfast treat.

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Puree leftover cooked hominy in a mini-food processor with just enough milk to help the blades move. When smooth, saute in a little fat (I used some rendered chicken fat but any kind of oil would be fine) and then add a handful of grated jack cheese and some chopped cilantro. Salt and pepper the corn (now technically grits) and spread over a plate. Top with warmed beans with their pot liquor and follow with a dusting of dry cheese like Parmesan or cotija.

I need to clear up some things. Up until recently, a martini was a gin drink served strained into a chilled cocktail glass. Now it apparently is any kind of cocktail with ingredients ranging from chocolate to apples. Grits used to mean ground hominy. Hominy is corn with the skins removed. Ground whole kernel corn with the skins used to be called mush here and polenta in Italy. Now it would seem that any ground corn can be grits.

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At Rancho Gordo, we sell prepared Hominy, which is corn that’s had the skin removed and then dried. You soak and simmer and then the individual kernels “flower” open. You can also buy hominy canned but there is a gumminess and rubber quality that the canning process adds. You can also buy whole dry corn, soak it in CaL, rub the skins off and then simmer until cooked. This is the traditional method for making pozole in Mexico.

Published by

Steve Sando

I dig beans.

5 thoughts on “Kiss My Grits, or at least eat them”

  1. Why withdrawl, dear? Didn’t you know that Rancho Gordo products are only a mere mouse-click away from being delivered to your door? So easy! So convenient! So delicious!

    (Sorry- I’ve been working on ad copy all day!)

  2. awesome, I feel you on the martini thing, even though I myself am a vodka martini girl, I still feel like a faker calling it that… But there’s no other word for it.

    Regardless, can you explain what Giant Corn are? I get them in a bag from the local bodega b/c they never have dried pozole (yeah, yeah I know, mouseclick, what, what?). They just look like huge dried kernals of corn. Is that what they are?

  3. OK, these sound so good. I can’t wait to try them.
    BTW I had the best Blue Cheese Grits by Chef Andre of Kathy Ireland.com omg they were good. I love grits, got anymore recipes?

  4. Ann, I solved the whole thing by switching to tequila with a beer back. I promise not to judge if you want a vodka martini! The giant corn kernels you find in the Mexican markets need to be soaked over night in CaL, the mineral (not the fruit)lime. Then you rub the skins off and rinse. It’s a lot of work. You should do it once. But then come see me!

    Jo Elle, I totally can understand the appeal of blue cheese on grits. Don’t tell but I sometimes put blue cheese on a corn tortilla for a fusion quesadilla. Not authentic but it’s very real!

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