Green Chilies Cheese Grits Casserole

As a celebration of the first day of Spring, our district office staff had a "Spring Has Sprung Brunch".  We try to get together for food and fellowship several times a year.  We all work in the same office building, but rarely eat together.  As I have shared with you in the past, I am a psychometrist for a large school district on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  One special thing about our district office is that we never begin a meal without stopping to bless our food and pray for our students and staff.  A terrific place to work!

We had a huge variety of brunch foods to sample today.  Luckily, we have some fabulous cooks at the district office. I decided to bring a Green Chilies Cheese Grits Casserole.  It is a simple, but delicious recipe. Nothing better than that!  Southerners eat grits anytime of the day...breakfast, lunch and/or supper!  Shrimp and grits are one of my favorite dishes, but just a good ole plain bowl of grits with butter, salt and pepper for breakfast can't be beat.  This recipe is a twist on a cheese grits casserole.  Let's get started!

The Starting Line-Up:

3 cups of water

1 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of quick cooking grits

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup of butter

3 tablespoons of chopped green chilies

1-1/2 cups of cheese, sharp cheddar, divided

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup of milk

In a large pot, bring to a boil 3 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of salt.  Slowly stir in grits.  Reduce heat and continue cooking, stirring frequently for 4-5 minutes as the grits thicken.  In a separate pan, saute minced garlic with 2 tablespoons of the butter until softened.  You can actually skip this step and add the raw minced garlic to the grits, but I like to saute the garlic. It seems to take away the bitter taste of raw garlic.  When the grits are cooked, remove from heat and add the garlic and the remainder of the butter.  Now add 1 cup of cheese and three tablespoons of green chilies, mixing all ingredients well.   At this point, you can do a taste test to check the flavor, adding salt or pepper as needed.  If you want to kick it up a notch or two (think Emeril Lagasse), add red pepper flakes or a little Tabasco.  

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl beat two eggs with the milk.  Add the egg and milk mixture to to the grits, mixing thoroughly.   Pour into a greased 2 quart baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remainder of the cheese.  It will smell wonderful!  Serve warm.

This dish serves 8.  It would also be terrific as a side dish with a meat and vegetable for dinner. Let me know if you try it and what you think.  Happy Spring Everyone!

Blessings from Still Woods Farmhouse

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