Kiss My Grits

I usually start to get hungry at about 4 o'clock.  I personally think this is because my stomach knows, even though I will it not to, that the gouter, if you're in France, or the custom of tea, if you're in England, is spot on.  For that matter, there's also what my dad refers to as "the finest hour of the day," by which he means the cocktail hour.  At any rate, if I don't already know what I'm going to have for dinner that evening, when 4 o'clock rolls around I start to think about dinner.

So, today at 4 o'clock I pondered dinner.  I knew that I had leftover cheese grits, I knew that I probably wanted to make chicken, and I knew that I had some tomatoes that I needed to eat. There you have it:  chicken and grits with tomato sauce.  

Grits are fantastic.  I am an unabashed carb addict.  I will never willingly give up my carbs and I love all of them.  For those of you who think that you don't like grits . . . all I can say is get some stone-ground grits and try again.  Nothing against the Quaker man, but stone-ground grits are 100% better.  In my very humble opinion, Anson Mills makes the best grits because they're very coarse and they have a great  texture when their cooked.  Hank is responsible for turning me on to Anson Mills and I am very thankful for that.  Grits are great, they're a wonderful vehicle for flavor.  I love them.  Try them.  

Cheese Grits

1 c. stone ground grits

2 c water (or chicken broth if you want it to be extra rich)

2 c milk

CHEESE (any sort you like, add to taste)

In a medium sized pot (~ 4 qts), heat milk & water.  Add about a tablespoon of salt (very important.  Paula Deen says that if you don't salt your grits in the beginning, you'll never get the flavor right.  I believe her.  I mean, she definitely knows more about grits than I do and I'm not going to take my chances on under-seasoned grits).  Add grits and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover grits, and simmer for at least one hour (but if you stretch it to about 2 hours it'll be even better), stirring occasionally to make sure that the grits don't stick to the bottom of the pan.  Add cheese (or sour cream, dairy products are great here) and stir the cheese into the grits until it's thoroughly combined.  Season with pepper and serve.  

They take awhile to cook but it's a great recipe for someone like me, who reads a lot, because I can cook them while I'm studying.

On to the sauce!

Onion, garlic, and red bellpepper, sweating it out, waiting for my tomatoes.   

I made the sauce with my remaining third of my red tomato and my green zebra tomato.  I know that tomato sauce is really not a fitting use for such a pretty tomato; however, it really needed to be used and the flavor of it's great, and it's my tomato, I'll use it how I want to!  The fresh tomatoes start out as a watery mess when you make the sauce but if you go low and slow, it turns into an excellent tomato sauce with a great flavor.  A little tomato paste never hurt anyone either!  

So, there you have it:  chicken and grits!  Delish!