Artisanal Grits are True Southern Food

One of my friends told me how she recently made some killer shrimp and grits for another friend. When I asked what kind of grits were used, they looked slightly confused because they only knew of quick or instant grits. I couldn’t judge because I grew up in Alabama, and instant grits were all I knew until I moved to Chicago and got into the culinary scene. Now you hear about ‘artisanal this and that’, but artisanal grits are where it’s at!

Of course, I couldn’t get this out of my head, so I had to make some for myself.

I thought I had some shrimp in the freezer, but only had andouille sausage, so I went with that. I also felt like I needed to add a little texture (aka vegetables) to my meal, so I sautéed some onion and celery.

For tried and true Southern food recipes, I always turn to the great Edna Lewis:

Old-Fashioned Creamy Grits

2 cups water

2 cups milk

1 cup stone ground grits

Kosher salt

¼ cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

• Heat water and milk in a heavy-bottomed pot, such as Le Creuset enameled cast iron, which happens to be 20% off this month at The Chopping Block
• While the milk is heating, put the grits in a large bowl and cover with cool water. Stir slightly and the chaff will float to the top. Skim chaff carefully off the top and drain the grits through a fine strainer.
• Add the grits to simmer liquid and cook, stirring often, until the grits are tender and have thickened to an oatmeal consistency. This could take 45-60 minutes for artisanal grits.

While the grits were cooking, I grabbed my trusty cast iron skillet to cook the andouille sausage.

I simply heated the pan, split the sausage in half and cooked the andouille on medium heat until it was slightly dark and caramelized. If I hadn’t drank my whole pot of coffee that morning, I would have made a red eye gravy to go with this comforting dinner.

I opted for a bourbon cocktail instead! I’ve recently been on a grapefruit kick, so I looked up some recipes and chose the Boulevardier.

Amazingly bitter, sweet and boozy to accompany my rich dinner of grits and andouille sausage. Sometimes you need to diversify from the Old Fashioned cocktail.

If you are interested in more Southern inspired recipes, check out our Bayou Bash or Date Night: Southern Comfort cooking classes! Here are all of the options for the Date Night classes coming up in November.

Saturday, November 7 7pm Merchandise Mart

Saturday, November 14 7pm Lincoln Square

Saturday, November 21 7pm Merchandise Mart

Saturday, November 28 7pm Lincoln Square