Guess what I'm having for breakfast....

[2bearslumber]

...a bowl of GRITS!  And it's not bad at all...I was actually surprised to find this item at the grocery store, but I got curious after reading so many references to grits here, especially ohsoloco's posts on "sawdust grits".  

How do you grits eaters prepare yours? I can imagine a bowl of grits would taste good with some bacon on the side. I put a bit of maple syrup on  mine, but that isn't quite the right taste combo, is it? Needs something spicy, like jalepeno pepper jack cheese. Maybe some onions....I'm having a half of a ruby red grapefruit on the side and watching the snow come down outside.


Thanks for introducing me to a new food.

[Tom]

Way to go, 2bearslumber!

Your right, Grits is better as a "savory" dish.  I like mine with salt, pepper and lots of butter.  It's also good with eggs, bacon, (I crumble bacon in there sometimes) and different gravies.  Red-eye gravy is popular but most pan dripping type gravies are good.  Yep, just the pan drippings sometimes.

They don't even need a separate bowl.  If the consistancy is right, just put a bunch on your plate with your eggs and stuff.  They won't run all over everything.

Remember that the leftovers are good too.  You cut them into 1" pieces, dip in an egg wash and fry.  (bacon grease is best)  Makes a good 'nother meal.

I'm proud that you like'em

[HOGFARMER]

Salt pepper and plenty of butter is the way I eat mine.  We generally have fried eggs and bacon or pig brains (fried) with them.  Tom is right left over ones sliced and fried can be used with any meal doesn't have to be breakfast.  Now that you have tried grits try hominy.  You will probably like it too.

[2bearslumber]

Riiiight.....I'm such a northern girl I had to look up red eye gravy Tom  :-[  Ham drippings and coffee makes red eye gravy, huh? Sounds wicked good! Mmmm--I can almost taste it. I already bought a ham for Christmas dinner. Perhaps I'll try grits with red eye gravy the next morning. Or maybe just fry up some in bacon grease. Oooo! I think I gained weight just thinking about that. ;D

Do you happen to know why it's called "red eye" gravy? Just curious. It's a funny sounding name to me.

Nancy

[2bearslumber]

Salt pepper and plenty of butter is the way I eat mine.  We generally have fried eggs and bacon or pig brains (fried) with them.  Tom is right left over ones sliced and fried can be used with any meal doesn't have to be breakfast.  Now that you have tried grits try hominy.  You will probably like it too.

[SCREAM!] Are you teasing me? No way will I EVER eat pig brains!       uh-uh!  No. No way.

I think I did try the hominy. All we had at the store was Quaker Quick Grits. At the bottom of the label it says "Enriched White Hominy"

Nancy

[Paschale]

Oh my.  Another northerner's been led astray by the Southern Culinary Brigade.    Let's all of us northerners have a moment of silence in memory of our fallen comrade.   ;)

Be strong, northerners!  The only thing you have to fear is fear itself, and eating bizarre things like grits.   ;D  These southerners are charmers, for sure, and it's easy to get caught in their wiley webs of grits and hominy.  Don't give in!  See...they're sneaky.  First it starts with grits, made by our friendly Quaker Oats man, a comfortable face.  Who doesn't trust something that comes in a box with a beaming Quaker?  That Quaker man on those boxes of grits is a wolf in sheep's clothing!  That's how they lure you in--something familiar, which brings back memories of childhood of hot oatmeal steaming in a bowl.  But before you know it, you're eating pig and squirrel brains.  See...that's their real agenda.  Pretty sneaky!  The only thing to do is to be strong and courageous!  And it's time we start our own offensive against the SCB:  anyone up for some pasties?   ;D

2bearslumber, it's not too late for ya.  I think you're "standing in the need of prayer."   ;)  

[Wannafish]

Myself, I'd rather have sumpin' pickled.  Pickled Bologna, Pickled Pork Hocks, Pickled Pigs feet, Pickled Turkey Gizzards, Pickled Eggs, Pickled Cow Tongue, Pickled Deer Heart, and ...
a beer!  

Now THAT's a Meal!

(Budweiser...it ain't just for breakfast, anymore)

[Tom]

I can't speak for the Budweiser but pickled stuff is mighty good.  I like it for heavy snacks in the woods especially.  Pickled Pigs feet or sausages, or eggs.......  stuff like that is good on a fishing trip.   For a meal at the table I prefer stuff from the kitchen though.

Hominy Grits is made from hominy,  2bearslumber.  You might like plain old hominy too.   It is in the full kernel rather than being ground and my favorite is fried in the frying pan after the bacon is done and when it begins to brown just a little, dump in a half dozen eggs and scramble them.   Hominy is also good cooked with green beens kinda like you would "new" potatoes or just as a side dish on its on.  You'll find Hominy in the canned goods area with the green beans, corn and stuff like that,  if your grocer carries it.

It's pretty good and I think variety is the spice of life. Stuff like that is really neat to fix if the people at the table have no idea what it is. Even if you don't eat it regularly, it's neat to experiment with foods that are popular elsewhere. Setting a table like that makes sure that your family never gets bored or entrenched in only one food.  I'd hate to eat if the only thing on the table was Milky Way candy bar every day.  Just think of what the kids will say, 20 years from now, about the "Table Momma Set". :D

Paschale,
We're undermining the stodgy "live in a rut" lifestyles that some folks have developed. :D ;D

If there is one thing you can bet on a Southerner, it's that he won't go hungry for very long.

"The South's Gonna Rise Again!"  :D :D :D :D

We just don't want anymore of that violent stuff. :D


Besides....  with all the corn y'all grow up that-a-way, it amazes me that you don't make grits and hominy a staple.  We're just trying to teach you what's good to eat. ;D :D

[etat]

If there is one thing you can bet on a Southerner, it's that he won't go hungry for very long  "The South's Gonna Rise Again!"      

Tom, that's exactly what I was thinking reading this thread.

[OneWithWood]

Well I hate to but I'm going to wade in here on this little discussion. :P

I have eaten hominy and grits since I can remember.  However, they have never become a staple of my diet, merely a once-in-a-while variation just to remind me that there are lesser palatable ways to fix corn for consumption :D

Real grits is made from field corn - we normally feed that to the livestock.  

I guess when you are surrounded by fields of sweet corn and high grade popcorn grits just don't get on the table much. :P

Nothin' against southern cuisine - I love cajun food! :D :D :D

[Tom]

Glad to hear that you aren't afraid to try something different, OWW. Part of the fascination comes from growing up with certain foods.  An open  mind keeps you from wearing blinders.  I like sweet corn too. ;D

I guess there was a time when "our" society had to look towards meager pickings to find something to eat.  

We're Survivors!  :D :D

[mitchetb]

Yeah, at least us northerners don't eat disgusting stuff.  We play it safe with things like scrapple, puddins, and of course hog mall (sp?). :D

TM

[Tom]

Welcome Mitchetb !

My little brother, Charlie, was amazed at some of the food fare in Minnehaha when he moved up there.  We Southerners aren't the only ones to have the keys to the kitchen when it comes to eating "Stuff" :D :D

What's Hog Mall?  

[Percy]

I had the "grits" once from a very nice elderly American couple in a campsite that were travlin Canada. They figured the skinny kid on the motorcycle need somthin to eat. Well I was very polite and atem all(if they are kind enuff to offer, ya gotta eatem with a smile) but the stuff woudda made a buzzard puke. I been told that this may have been an anomaly but...I dont think so.

Nancy ,Ive ate pig brains(Baba called it headcheese..hmm)and while it wasnt somthin Id put on my toast everyday, it was better than the grit....I mean grits ;D ;D ;D

[Tom]

Head cheese and brains are two different things down here.  Head Cheese is also called Souse in someplaces and is made from the meat and Gelatinous substances produced when the head (meat & bone) is boiled.  Usually quite spicy it is made into a loaf and sliced.

Too bad you're experience with Grits was a bad one. At least you tried them and know that you don't have to starve to death now.

[Timber_Framer]

Grandad served calf brains with saurkraut and rye toast at his bar during the holidays and Grandma always made headcheese each fall. I don't get either one any more sure do miss all four of em.
Ya'll will love what I had fro breakfast this mourning Chicken gizzards and gravy over rice! I mean a full pound of gizzards tossed in spicy flour and sauteed in butter and when they were just browned I added a cup of fresh home made chicken stock and let er thicken up!
Man! I'm gettin hungry all over again ;D

[mitchetb]

Tom,

The real PA Dutch on here can correct me were I might go wrong, but hog mall (sp?) is stuffed pig stomach.  The authenic stuffing includes some of the wonderful things that also goes into scrapple (all the leftovers that are not quite up to hotdog meat standards).    

[Tom]

Oh-h-h-h--h ! !

Kinda like Haggis. ........cept different ;D :D :D

[2bearslumber]

Alright--settle down now guys. I don't want to be the cause of a fight breaking out. My sincere apologies to you southern boys and girls. Shame on me for turning my nose up at eating (gasp!) pig brains for breakfast! It seemed...well....just..WRONG to eat something's brains--initially. But I guess they could be good. One never knows until one tries. Just like Green Eggs and Ham, you know?

I'm not a very adventurous eater, but I suppose if I had a few beers first, I might possibly be up to trying pig brains.

Please tell me they are at least spiced, or made into sausage or ground up. I'm trying to find a recipe to ease my queasy stomach, but haven't found one yet.

My brother-in-law brought back some goat cheese from France once. I turned my nose up at it too, but my mother-in-law said to me: "When I think of goat cheese, I think of Heidy and her grandfather up in the mountains..." She made it sound so wholesome and safe, that I tried some. It tasted good, for about a second. Then the after taste hit me. All I can think to describe it is what it might taste like to lick the hind end of a goat. And that taste seemed to bond with my tongue for hours afterward.

But at least I tried it. I'll go get started on the beer. Someone pass the brains, please.  :P

Tom, I'll look for canned hominy next time I go.

[hosslog]

Headcheese makes real good sandwiches when yer workin in the woods. I have to order it an the gals at the store call it that yuk stuff. Don't unnerstand ;)

[Paschale]

Alright--settle down now guys. I don't want to be the cause of a fight breaking out.

Don't feel bad, 2bearslumber!  It's all in good fun.   ;)  It's a longstanding friendly discussion about the relative virtures of cuisines north or south of the mason dixon line that, from what I understand, has been going on since the beginning of the forum.  In fact, on your profile page, there's an option where you can say whether you're a grits person or not.  Debatin' and arguin' is half the fun!   ;D  This topic comes up in random threads from time to time, and everytime, people jump right in and make their case--and enjoy doing it everytime.   ;D  All I can say, though, is that the non-grits faction is right.   ;D ;D ;D

[ohsoloco]

I thought headcheese and souse were two different things....at least the way we make souse anyway.  While browsing through one of my favorite catalogs (Cumberland General Store) I saw a cast iron souse pan that had the face of a pig on the bottom so the souse would...well, look like a piggy face  :D  The recipie they had in there was for headcheese, which, from my understanding, would be kinda like a meatloaf looking thing  ???  Souse is a little different, since it's usually the meat from pig's feet, and other parts where you kinda have to just pick little pieces of meat off of other stuff (head meat would work too), and it's in a gelatin suspension (my dad always used unflavored gelatin to make it set even better).  Even seen tongue souse before  :P  and it's good stuff.  All the homemade souse I've had has been heavily peppered with coarse cracked black pepper, and is best served with some vinegar poured over it  

[Engineer]

These 'r good:  ;D

Deep fried pickles
Cow's tongue
Chicken livers 'n onions
Red flannel hash
Single malt

These 'r NOT good:   :P

Brains
Head cheese
Haggis
Cream of Wheat
Grits

'Nuff said.

[Phorester]

Being a Southerner what married a Yankee...., lots of my favorite foods as a child are not offered at our table.  Actually I never got into the grits thing, although I love hominy, salt cured ham, pinto beans, blackeyed peas, corn bread, crappie, bluegill, bass, but since the cook doesn't.....  I either fix'em myself, wait until we visit Mom, or go without.  Can't complain about my wife's cooking though.  Lordy can she bake!  Biscuits better than Mom's (just don't tell Mom that - but nobody can beat Grandma's biscuits), cakes, pies, cookies.  Can't believe I don't weigh 400 pounds.

I am amazed, though, by the tremendous variety of human foods around the world, and the number of ways just one food item can be prepared.  I often wonder how in the world some of these were created.  I suspect either by accident or from people who were actually starving and had to cook that pig brain or die, cause that's all they had.  (Who in hell thought to fry that first slice of green tomato?)

[EZ]

Pig brains, I'll be DanG, I forgot all about pig brains. My mother use to fry them up for breakfast for us kids. We ate the heck out of them.
Aint nothing better.  ;D
EZ