Grits Aren't Just For Deep Southerners...

Any more, anyway... I told you all about the Chili Cheese Grits that Carol whipped up for Christmas. Neither she nor I have ever been a fan of grits but she ran across this recipe in a magazine and thought it sounded good... I thought she was nuts trying it out on a Christmas lunch but we were having company and she figured it would be more likely to be eaten, I guess. Not wanting to rain on her parade and since it had green chiles in it which gave the dish a southwest or Mexican nod I thought, "what the heck... give it a try". Dang, it was good. Almost like a spoon bread in texture. So I had to eat 'crow' along with everything else for lunch on Christmas. Here you go... enjoy.

CHILI CHEESE GRITS

3 Cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Cup quick-cooking grits
1/4 Cup butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 Cups Longhorn cheese, grated (about 6 ounces)
4-1/2 ounce can chopped green chiles
2 eggs
1/2 Cup milk
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Bring water to a boil and add the salt and garlic. Slowly stir in the grits and continue stirring for 4 or 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat.

Add the butter, 1 Cup of the cheese and the green chiles, stirring until butter is completely melted. Beat the eggs with the milk, add to the mixture and mix well.

Pour into a greased 2 quart baking dish and bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve.

Whomever wrote the original recipe should have added that the recipe might make a non-grits person into one who would request this dish. Obviously if I talked about it and took the time to copy the recipe for you all it is something that I would eat again.

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks... or new foods to eat and like. I think Carol just wants to see if she can make something that neither of us has cared to eat into something good and yes, ma'am, she can!