Friday, April 21, 2017

Garlic and Cheese Grits Casserole from The Belle

Missy Tippens

I've got a good southern recipe for you today! For those of you who've said in the past that you can't even buy grits at your grocery store (and I'm sad about that!)...well, you need to order some online! You need to try this. I served it for Easter lunch.

I based my recipe on one from Trisha Yearwood. Click here for the original, which is a video of her making Garlic Grits Casserole. I watched it and jotted all the ingredients. :) Then I modified it because I wanted to double the recipe--and while I was making my decision about how much cheese to buy, someone grabbed the last two packages!! (I think it was a woman I had just been talking to who probably overheard me tell my husband that the cheese was buy one get one free!) If she hadn't already disappeared, I might have begged. LOL Instead, I came up with Plan B.

This is the doubled recipe, so it's enough to feed a crowd (probably 15-20).

9 cups salted water
2 cups Quick Grits
2 5-ounce packages of garlic herb cheese (I used Boursin)
8-ounce package extra-sharp cheddar, grated
1 stick butter + 2 TBS butter
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups cornflakes cereal, crushed

Boil the water. Stir in the grits and cook until thickened. Here's the garlic herb cheese I used.


Once the grits are thickening, crumble in the cheese. Next add in the 1 stick of butter (reserve the 2 TBS for the topping).


Then add in the grated cheddar. (Trisha's recipe only called for the garlic cheese, but the casserole I grew up eating also had extra-sharp cheddar, so I chose that for doubling my recipe.)





In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.

Scoop out a ladle full of the hot grits and mix with the eggs/milk to temper it. I actually tempered with 3 or 4 ladles full. Then I stirred this tempered mixture into the pot of cheese grits.

Next, pour this into a large casserole dish. Mine nearly overflowed, so I ended up pouring this into a large, greased cake pan.



Crush the cornflakes (my daughter did it in a ziplock bag). Melt the 2 TBS butter and mix into the cereal. Sprinkle this topping onto the casserole.


Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or so, until bubbly throughout.

Enjoy a bit of southern tradition!

www.missytippens.com

10 comments:

  1. Missy! You brought grits!!!! Yum! :)

    I brought some fresh coffee to go with them, darling.

    You know, I love that corn meal spoon bread. It's a huge favorite of mine... but I cannot love grits.

    And that's okay, because it's probably something you get raised, loving.

    But I love to see the Southern culture that goes into grits and cool Southern dishes.

    Have you ever made Jambalaya? (spelling????) I love that mix of Southern and Creole...

    I need to go to New Orleans, just to see it! To say I've been there.

    Does your whole family love grits? Because I'm not sure there's any one thing my whole family loves....

    Well. Me. :)

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  2. Ruthy, we LOVE spoon bread also! But we make grits more often.

    Yeah, I guess everyone in the family does love grits--or at least LIKES them. :)

    I'm glad you family agrees on loving you! :)

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  3. Thank you for sharing this recipe, Missy! I've been so hungry for cheese grits!

    I was able to find some grits at a store here (yay!), but now I need to look for the garlic & herb cheese. Or maybe I'll just use cheddar and add in the garlic and herbs?

    Either way, it's going to be delicious!

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    Replies
    1. Jan, yes, you can add that yourself. But when you look for the Boursin, just be sure to look over in the deli area where they have specialty cheeses. I bet you'll be able to find it or something similar.

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  4. Hmmmm. Grits. They're kind of like southern mystique to this northern gal. But I LOVE Boursin. I haven't had it in decades, but I used to eat it like crazy.

    I cannot imagine anything with that much cheese in it tasting anything but amazing.

    Ruthy, I went to RWA in New Orleans back in 2001. Ahhhh, the food. I have such fond memories of a particular chicken sandwich. I have no idea what it was except AMAZING!

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    1. Mary Cate, if you love Boursin, I bet you'd love this!

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  5. Oh, do love me some cheese grits, Missy. Especially with garlic. But you lost me at the cornflakes. So mwould just leave them off and enjoy all that creamy goodness as is. Yep, works for me. If Ruthy only knew what she was missing.

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    1. Mindy, I had never seen a topping on grits casserole before! That was new to me. I think I would actually prefer crushed Ritz crackers and butter instead. Or just a topping of melted cheese! :)

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  6. Oh, this looks incredible! But I need someone to make it for me. I have never been able to make grits!

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    Replies
    1. Virginia, you can't mess up instant grits. Give it a try!

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