This Saturday, our church will welcome our new Children's Minister to our church! Our previous Children's Minister retired after 39 years of dedicated service to the Lord. Isn't that something? So now it's time for our new Children's Minister to get to know everyone. The day will begin with a brunch with the church staff, deacons and their wives. I decided to bring this delicious casserole. The south is known for grits and there are many types of grits casseroles. Southerners eat grits anytime of the day...breakfast, lunch and/or supper! Shrimp and grits are one of my favorite dishes, but a good ole plain bowl of grits with butter, salt and pepper for breakfast can't be beat. So what is in the photo below? It's a Green Chilies Cheese Grits Casserole. A simple, but terrific recipe. Nothing better than that! 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.
Blessings from Lynda at Still Woods Farmhouse
This looks delicious! Makes me want to fix grits SOON.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend ~ FlowerLady
Hi Lorraine! Hope you had a great weekend. Make sure you make this soon. You will love these grits!
DeleteBlessings from Lynda at Still Woods Farmhouse
Here in the North I have never eaten grits / how crazy is that? :)
ReplyDeleteNow Deb, you have to remedy that! I lived in Maine when I was little and became fond of Ralston and Malt O Meal. I can find the latter in our local groceries, but am beginning to think that Ralston was just a northern hot cereal. Get you a box of grits and cook according to the directions on the box. Add butter, salt and pepper and enjoy. Then you can venture out and add other ingredients. Let me know what you think!
DeleteBlessings from Lynda at Still Woods Farmhouse