Guaranteed Creamiest, Dreamiest Grits!!!

Every good southerner loves a nice bowl of grits, whether sweet or savory.  On the other hand, most people who grew up outside the south just don't get it.  Being here in Virginia, right on the borderline, even many of us don't know about the deliciousness of grits when they're done just right.  Sometimes, even younger generations of southerners don't get the chance to learn the tricks to those perfect grits that their parents and grandparents made.  Even few restaurants get grits 100% right.  Restaurant grits are often glue-y and goopy, and less than appetizing.  Homemade grits that are done improperly are stiff and, well, gritty.  No one wants that, ick!

This recipe is to equip you with the tools for making perfect creamy, dreamy grits!  You can use this technique for either sweet or savory grits, adding in the seasoning at the same point when the sugar is added in the recipe below, in place of the sugar, of course.

Ingredients
1-1/2 c water
6 TB grits
2 tsp butter
1/2 c milk or so
about 1/3 c white granulated sugar (optional)

*for savory grits add ingredients like paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and shredded cheddar in lieu of sugar

Procedure
1. Bring water to a boil over high heat with 2 tsp of butter, cut into small pieces to facilitate rapid melting.  Gradually add in 6 TB of grits, whisking rapidly and continuously.

2. Reduce heat to low (# 2 if you have numbers), cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. About every 3 or 4 minutes, remove top and whisk grits to break up lumps, being sure to get any grits stuck on the sides of the pan.  At this point, if you grits have absorbed most of the liquid, add in a little milk, whisk, cover, and continue simmering.

4. Repeat this process throughout cooking.  Before the last 4 minutes, whisk in any remaining milk and whisk in the sugar or other seasoning.  For sweet grits, around 1/3c sugar works for this amount.

5. Serve immediately.  For any leftovers, if they are too dry stir in a little liquid with a fork before reheating.

Hearty Sausage and Potatoes Frittata

Ingredients
8 large eggs
2 TB heavy cream, sour cream, or plain yogurt
half of a roll of breakfast sausage, cooked and broken apart with oil well-drained
1 potato, sliced into thin rounds and sauteed until cooked
1/2c shredded cheddar
2 TB grated parmesan
1/4 medium onion, chopped and caramelized
1 green onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TB minced fresh parsley
cayenne pepper, to taste
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp Hungarian paprika (or other ground hot pepper)
1 tsp black pepper
salt to taste (be sure to salt the eggs and the potatoes)

1 TB butter


*you can always sub slices of any sausage you like in place of the breakfast sausage.


Procedure
1. Set oven to 400F


2. Beat eggs, cream, seasoning, herbs, onions, and garlic until frothy.


3. Melt butter over medium heat  in an oven-safe skillet.  Place sausage and potato into the pan and pour egg mixture o top.


4. Pull the edges of the egg away from the sides of the pan with a spatula, allowing the uncooked eggs to flow to the bottom of the pan. Repeat this process until the frittata is half set.


5. Once the frittata is half set,  place it in the oven for 10 minutes.


6. Remove from oven, plate, and enjoy.  No need to invert since the top is the pretty side ;).  Serve in slices.  Refrigerate leftovers.

Unforgettable Southern Shrimp and Grits!

I started making shrimp and grits after trying them at Richmond's undisputed soul food restaurant king, Croakers Spot.   After trying my new favorite version at Lunch, Richmond's new restauarant serving up Southern homestyle food with a twist, I figured that it was time to bring the old summer favorite.  Since Croakers Spot, I have made shrimp and grits at home a number of different ways--with gravy, with beer sauce, with tomato sauce, etc.  This particular version has a great summer twist from the incorporation of deliciously tangy green garden tomatoes.  If you don't have green tomatoes, just use red, but just know that the green makes it even more special with its delicious sweet yet tangy flavor.  My shrimp and grits has a  flavorful sauce with chunks of beautiful bright green and red, juicy, fresh tomatoes along with diced onion.  The light freshness of the shrimp and veggies combined with the creaminess of the grits, without the gross, heavy feeling of some restaurant grits.  This dish is fresh, nutritious, and bursting with flavor.  It's sure to be your next family favorite!

Ingredients
*If you like leftovers or have a larger, double this recipe.  It is just enough for 3 or 4 people.

1lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 c coarsely chopped onion
4 large tomatoes, in 1-1.5" chunks, preferably half green or mostly green
4 cloves of garlic + 2 cloves for marinating the shrimp
1 green onion, sliced
1/2 a light-colored beer (Corona, Coors, etc)
1 TB chopped fresh parsley
a small pinch of thyme

1c of grits (old fashioned, NOT quick cooking or instant)
2c of chicken broth (I didn't have any, so I used water and 1 pack of Goya bouillon)
1-1/2c milk (skim is just fine, that is what I used)
1-1/2c water + about 1/2c or so extra in case the grits thicken too much during cooking
1 TB secret ingrdient (don't worry, it's still great without it, but I'll keep this one a secret)
*Bear in mind that I don't actually measure the dry seasonings, add it until it's good :P*
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste (salt generously because grits tend to suck up flavor)
1/2c shredded cheddar cheese

Procedure 
1. Place peeled, deveined, and rinsed shrimp into a medium size bowl.  Sprinkle a generous amount of salt (much more than you would season them with) over all over shrimp.  Toss the shrimp in the salt with your hands in a slight rubbing motion until they begin to foam slightly.  Once you begin seeing small foaming or bubbles, this takes 2-3 minutes, rinse the shrimp again.

2. Once rinsed, allow the shrimp to marinade in a little salt, two cloves of minced garlic and the sliced green onion.  Be sure to wipe off the marinade before cooking to avoid burning the seasoning.  Simply add the remaining marinade when it is time to add the green onion.

3. Prepare the grits according to the instructions, except be sure to remove the lid and whisk the grits for a minute about 3 or 4 times during the process to create creamier, smoother grits.  Be sure to add in the seasoning after initially whisking the grits into the boiling liquid.  If the grits get thick, add a little water here and there.  I probably added an extra half a cup of liquid by the end.

4. Once the grits are done, stir in the cheddar and continue cooking 1-2 minutes to incorporate the cheese.

5..Saute the onions in a pan over medium low heat in a generous amount of oil, about 2TB or so.

6.. Once the onions are transparent, but not yet softened, add in the green tomatoes, if you are using them.  If you have red, do not add them yet.  Add garlic and stir occasionally.

7. Meanwhile, in a pan over high heat that has been lightly oiled, saute shrimp for 1-2 minutes on each side. Do not overcook!  Once cooked, set aside.

8. Once the onions are almost completely softened, add in the red tomatoes and thyme. Sautee for one minute or so.  Add the green onion.

9. Increase the heat to medium and add in the beer.  Continue sauteing until the beer has cooked off.  Be sure to adjust salt and pepper as needed at this point.

10. Add the shrimp to the sauce and sautee for a minute or two.

Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Bun Pull-Aparts**Brioche Effeuiller a la Cannelle**

*ugly, but it sure was yummy!*  Sorry,  I ate quite a bit long before I photographed*

*I overstuffed the pan, that's why mine was ugly.*

It's dough mania at my house these days!  I've been making lots of pastries with brioche.  This particular recipe uses French technique  but with an American twist from a nice cinnamon sticky bun topping.  The result is a cute (not-so-cute in the photo, but cute functionally :)) pull-apart roll stuffed with rum-soaked raisins, cinnamon, brown sugar, and white sugar topped with a perfectly ooey gooey, buttery brown sugar sauce on top.  

Brioche itself is a soft, tender, buttery, sweeter, richly flavored bread.  It is also used as the base of many traditional French pastries, or viennoisserie.  This particular sweet bread, brioche effeuiller, literally "leaves or leaved," since leaf and layer are often communicated with the same word in most romance languages, but it actually means layered brioche.  For this recipe, I took the rum-soaked raisins of pain aux raisins and fused a great American-style sticky bun sauce with this delicious, homey French treat!  I know that you will enjoy as much as I did!

Just a note, be very careful with loading the pan.  I overloaded the pan with dough, forgetting that although the risen dough in the pan still fit, the dough would rise to 1.5 times it's pre-baking size in the oven.  Needless to say, my dough spilled over, and I found myself skimming the browned bread off the top and waiting forever for the interior dough to fully cook.  Long story short, this recipe is for 2 loaf pans.  Yours will be much prettier than mine and they won't spill over this way ;).

Brioche *for 2 loaf pans*

http://downtownfoodie.blogspot.com/2011/12/fluffy-silky-buttery-brioche.html

Ingredients *for 2 loaf pans*
filling
160g of raisins, soaked in 7 TB of dark rum
1 stick of butter, softened
1-1/2c packed brown sugar
2 TB cinnamon

sauce
1 stick of butter, cut into pieces
1/2c packed brown sugar
1c white sugar
1/4c milk
3 TB cornstarch
2TB corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of cinnamon
1 small pinch of nutmeg

Note: The original recipe uses evaporated milk with 1/4c brown sugar and 3/4c white sugar, but we didn't have any evaporated milk at the time.  I had to increase this and add cinnamon and vanilla to compensate for the milk substitute and the addition of starch, which tends to mask flavor.

Procedure and Technique

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Prepare dough per brioche dough instructions.  Once the dough has risen a second time and been punched down.  Begin rolling dough out on a floured surface.  Roll the dough into a rectangle no more than 1/4" in thickness.

3.  Butter the dough surface evenly with very soft butter.  Once completely buttered, sprinkle evenly with the topping.
4.  Begin cutting the dough lengthwise, as photographed here in the 4th row of photos.  You will lose topping in the process moving the layers on top of one another, but simply replace the topping before moving to the next layer.

5. Once the dough is placed in the pan, allow it to rise for about 15 minutes.  This is the perfect time period to begin making the sauce.

6. Next, place all sauce ingredients, besides the corn starch, into a sauce pot over medium heat.  

7. Once the mixture is homogeneous and hot, but not yet boiling, place the cornstarch into heat-proof mug or small heat-proof bowl and mix in a couple of tablespoons of the liquid from the pot.  Stir rapidly with a spoon until homogeneous and all lumps are out.  Add the cornstarch liquid back into the pot and stir until homogeneous. 

8. Allow mixture to boil gently 2-3 minutes, until thickened.  

9.  Once thickened and cooled slightly, just so that it is no longer boiling. pour generously and evenly on top of dough that has fully risen in the pan, just before baking.  I like to push the sides of the bread in a bit to pour some sauce a long the sides too, it won't hurt to pull the layers themselves apart to a bit to give them some extra love as well.  

10.  Bake at 350 in 2 separate loaf pans *that are placed on top of a baking sheet* for about 25 minutes, or until browned and a quick check between the center layers shows that the bread is done.  The baking sheet part is very important as that topping is very likely to spill over.

11. I actually inverted mine and poured more sauce before flipping over again.  The actual top is where it's easiest to pull the bread apart from.

12.  If you happen to overload your pan and your bread is browning too quickly without cooking enough in the center, simply cover to top loosely with foil, move the oven rack higher up, as the bottom is likely going to burn otherwise, and continue baking.

TIPS: For the brioche, you have to be sure to knead intensively the first time.  If you do not, your dough will be to slack, and once you add the butter there will be no repairing this since the butter will shorten the gluten strands, thus weakening the strength of the dough and causing it to be to slack, soft, and sticky.  After the first kneading, your dough should not leave bits here and there on the counter top.  You should be able to roll the dough and pick up any bits and lift the ball with minimal stickiness and the dough should form a smooth, very soft, yet minimally sticky ball.


Please see the link below for dough shaping process photos
http://www.papillesetpupilles.fr/2011/10/brioche-a-effeuiller-au-sucre-et-a-la-cannelle-pull-apart-bread.html/

References
http://www.patiss.com/recette/pates/brioche.html

http://www.papillesetpupilles.fr/2011/10/brioche-a-effeuiller-au-sucre-et-a-la-cannelle-pull-apart-bread.html/

http://morebutter.wordpress.com/2008/12/25/papa-moreheads-cinnamon-rolls/

http://megsvegrecipes.blogspot.com/2005/02/ooey-gooey-cinnamon-rolls.html