“The South is anywhere below the line where restaurants will bring you grits in the morning (and the Deep South is where they bring the grits without asking). Fred Powledge, American author
I have eaten myself silly this summer with tomato sandwiches, pimento cheese, chicken salad and quite a few blueberry pancakes for lack of anything else that I could conjure up.
Street Tacos and the Holly Ridge Mafia Sandwich have been the pick up meals of choice along with a Floating Burger every now and then.
I love to cook.
It involves my mind, body and soul. Like an old baseball player who yearns for the smell of his glove or the roar from the crowd, I want my knives and my wooden spoons, and I want to smell garlic in a pan!
I want to sharpen and chop, I want to create something fabulous from my own stove. I feel the need for cream and wine!
I know where my knives are and some of my cookware, but the electric eyes on my stove make this incredible rattling sound, like something is going airborne any minute. The refrigerator is definitely a man’s dream.
Many, many, bottles of ketchup, honey mustard salad dressing, gatorade and giant jars of grape jelly take up most of the space.
The promise of cooler weather is on its way, and I know how much I love to cook when it is cold.
So I have changed my attitude and my methods, (until we can get things straight around here). I run to the store every day or so, see what looks good and then start searing up some beef tenderloins or bone-in pork chops and creating sauces that will be just divine splashed around it. I especially love to serve either of these luscious cuts of meat with Rice and Grits from Delta Blues Rice. I make it with milk and cream and a bit of cream cheese and they stand up to any sauce I can conjure up. You do not even need to have any other side served with this unless you just have to have a salad.
Cooking is a great escape from everything else you are doing and if you have a glass of wine and smell the garlic sizzling in your pan you can transport yourself to a cool villa in Italy with ancient terra cotta tiles instead of linoleum.
The rattling of the stove is actually the sound of the cowbells from the MSU-LSU ballgame. Sometimes I play good music from YoYo Ma, but lately I just listen to the MSU-LSU game over and over. Everything in the kitchen is at fever-pitch and I feel warm and fuzzy every time the Bulldogs score.
Grits can soothe the soul and make you happy and they go with everything and are almost impossible to mess up. Your kitchen is your domain, you can pretend it’s anything you want! Good knives are essential however.
Creamy Grits
2 cups milk
Large pinch of salt
Large pinch of pepper
1 cup Delta Blues Rice and Grits
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 ounces cream cheese
Bring the milk and salt to a boil. Add the grits and butter and stir constantly until smooth. Lower the heat and continue to stir adding more cream and milk as needed. Cook for about 20 minutes, continuing to stir until the grits are cooked through. Add the cream cheese and stir until blended. Check seasonings, adding more salt and pepper as needed.
