Cheese Grits Casserole

Cheese Grits Casserole

When I worked at Medina County Board of MR/DD, we occasionally had breakfast “bring ins” or pot lucks for staff meetings. One night I forgot to stop at the store to get ingredients for the dish I had planned, and the cupboard was nearly bare, so I ended up making cheese grits casserole.

You know how many grits jokes there are out there, so I was not sure how my coworkers of the Northern persuasion would feel about being fed them. In one of my aha moments, I told everyone my dish was baked polenta, and only after they licked the dish clean did I confess what they were. Since they are both ground corn, I think I may have been almost telling the truth.

The joke ended up being on me, however, because my friends insisted that I bring grits to every pot luck after that. Anyone else could stop at the donut or bagel store, but I had to get up extra early to stick a casserole in the oven and wrap it well enough to keep it warm on the way to work.

I rarely ate breakfast at the Williams' house when the eggs were not served with grits. Mrs. Williams usually made either regular grits or top of the stove cheese grits, not grits casserole. She served them with butter and bacon or sausage. We didn't have grits all that often when I was growing up, but if we did, they were served with fried salty country ham and red eye gravy. After I left home, cheese grits casserole started to be "the thing" among the ladies at High Hills Baptist Church in Jarratt.

However you eat your grits, do not buy the instant ones. Quick cooking are acceptable, especially for casseroles, but nothing beats the long cooking ones ground at an old fashioned grist mill. The yellow ones they sell in South Carolina are also good.

Recipe:

½ cup quick cooking grits (not instant)
2 cups boiling water
½ stick butter
7 oz. EXTRA sharp cheese, grated
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. red pepper
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 egg

Add grits, salt and both peppers to boiling water, stirring constantly. Turn heat to medium low and continue to stir so the grits won’t pop. They can cause a painful burn if they land on your skin. Cook 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cheese and butter and stir until melted. Let cool a few minutes before adding egg. Break egg into small bowl and beat with a fork. Temper the egg by adding several small spoons of hot mixture to the egg while stirring before adding to full pan of grits to keep the egg from scrambling.

Pour mixture into greased or sprayed casserole and bake 1 hour at 325 degrees. Knife inserted near center should come out clean. Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish.

Note: If you leave out the egg, you can serve these grits as simple top of the stove cheese grits.