Everyday Cooking

1 Pot of Goat Cheese Grits, 5 Dinners

June 17, 2013

Put time into dinner now, and you can make it last forever -- or at least the whole week. Welcome to Halfway to Dinner, where we show you how to stretch your staples every which way.

Today: Adrianna Adarme -- the voice behind A Cozy Kitchen and a shiny new cookbook -- makes goat cheese grits last the week, happily. 

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I grew up loving grits, but my Latin mother wasn't sure how to make them, so she opted for the instant variety. It wasn't until I went to college in the deep-south that I was introduced to the glory of bright yellow, stone-ground grits. Their texture is a delight, their color is a brilliant yellow, and their flavor is sweet and earthy. In my new cookbook, I explore the traditional American pancakes we're so used to, but I also wanted to include a dinner section -- so I had to include these goat cheese grits. They're more like a cross between a fritter and a patty And I just love the tangy note from the goat cheese playing off the sweetness from the corn.  

The recipe begins with cooking a pot of grits over the stove top. The batch of grits is poured into a lightly greased baking sheet and transferred to the refrigerator to set until firm. From there it's cut into circles and pan fried. For a week's worth of grits, I just kept pairing them with different flavors. Try it -- it's fun. 

Grits and Goat Cheese Cakes with a Fried Egg
You can literally put a fried egg on anything, but eggs and these grits are a match made in heaven. The runny egg with the crispy cake is a really delicious, simple meal. 
 

Grit Cake Panzanella Salad
Cut the grits into cubes and pan-fry them, then lightly toss them with a shallot vinaigrette. If you have a gluten intolerance and cry a little whenever you see a panzanella salad, don't fret! Replacing the bread with cubes of crispy grits turned out to be a delicious gluten-free solution.

Crispy Grits with Blueberry Compote and Ice Cream
I know this isn't technically dinner, but since I live alone, sometimes dinners look like this. We're all adults here, right? I sliced it like I would a slice of pie, cooked up a quick blueberry compote and served it with a scoop of malt vanilla ice cream that was chilling in my freezer. 

Grit and Goat Cheese Fries with Harissa Aioli
Sometimes I want nothing but appetizers for dinner. Here, I cut the grits into long skinny rectangles, and then oven-baked them until they were crispy. My go-to dip for these is harissa aioli, but they're fabulous with just about anything. Go wild. 

Grits and Goat Cheese Cakes with Collard Greens and Bacon
If I ever do something terrible and find myself on death row, I want collard greens and bacon (and maybe a pastrami sandwich) as my last meal. I hope the collards will be topped with these crispy grit cakes, too.  

Grits and Goat Cheese Cakes 

Makes 12 cakes 

4 cups whole milk
1 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups stone-ground corn grits
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
2 teaspoon salt

See the full recipe (and save it and print it) here.

Photos by Adrianna Adarme

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  • Ashley
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    Andreas Düss
I'm the writer behind the food blog, A Cozy Kitchen. My blog is a place where my love for cute things, pancakes and corgis is celebrated. In Spring 2013 my first cookbook, PANCAKES: 72 Sweet and Savory Recipes for the Perfect Stack, was published.

4 Comments

Ashley April 27, 2014
I LOVE grits and these recipes are amazing!! Thank you!!
 
Fairmount_market June 17, 2013
These recipes look fabulous. Thanks for the inspiration.
 
Andreas D. June 17, 2013
PS: Love these ideas.
 
Andreas D. June 17, 2013
If you really want an easy life, you can just bake the grits in the oven. Use an oven-proof form, wipe with olive oil. In go the grits and boiling water or stock. Stir, cover, bake at 350º until done.

You can then even let the grits cool in the form, cut and serve. I do this with polenta all the time, makes for a great standby in the fridge.