Monday, April 21, 2008

Katie Cooks: Grits Casserole edition

I am sure that most families have a favorite recipe. The one that is requested the most. Each weekend, I sit down with the grocery list and plan out our meals for the week. Usually I ask the kids what they want for dinner. Lately, I have had a lot of requests for escargots. Ummm...that is not exactly in my repertoire. But the one item that is consistenly asked for (demanded sometimes) is my grits casserole. And now I am going to share it with you. And your family can now demand it of you on a regular basis. Even if you claim you don't like grits.

First...brown your sausage.

Then measure out a cup of quick cooking grits. And if you cook anything like Katie does, do it over the sink...so that this mess will stay in your sink and not on your counters or floor. And then add them to boiling water.

While that simmers, mix your milk and eggs.

Now combine everything in a bowl, topping with some melted butter with salt and pepper.Pour into a baking pan and cook.

Delish!


We serve it with biscuits and fruit salad. Although I have strange children who do not like their fruit to touch other fruits. They are not thrilled that there is pineapple in my fruit salad. And Madalyn only wants the grapes and clementines; and Katie only wants the strawberries and clementines and maybe a watermelon piece. Picky, picky.

Katie says that it is more fun to eat grits casserole than to make it. Honey...this is why restaurants were invented. And dish washers.

Here is the simple recipe:

3cups water

1 cup quick cooking grits

3/4 tsp salt, divided

2 lb pork sausage, cooked and drained

8oz shredded cheese, divided

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

2 tb butter, melted

pepper

Bring water to a boil and slowly whisk in the grits + 1/2 tsp salt. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine grits, sausage and most of the cheese (reserve some for the top). Beat the eggs and milk and then stir into the grits mixture. Add the butter, pepper and remaining salt.

Transfer to a greased 13x9 pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour or until a knife comes out clean. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake 15 more minutes. Let it stand about 5 minutes before serving.

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13 comments:

Julie said...

Can't do grits -- it's a texture thing for me. I can't eat anything that has a texture like oatmeal or rice pudding or tapioca. Or the skin on cooked pudding. So my kids have learned to make all that stuff for themselves and not to bother offering any to me.

As for the tatttoo, I think if I had not had a migraine on Saturday and had gone with Zach when he got the PacMan tat, I may have been persuaded by him to get my own -- not like his PacMan design wrapped around his bicep, but maybe a little ghost on the shoulder or something.

Shocking and appalling your kids is always fun -- nice to make crazy for a change, instead of them always making us crazy, right?

Julie said...

Dang I forgot to mention I will show this recipe to the kids -- see if they want to try some grits...

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Julie--You'll have to let me know if the kids make the grits. And maybe you'll even think about trying it. As a casserole, it does not have the appearance or texture of those things you mentioned.

Rhea said...

That looks really yummy. What a beautiful picture of the fruit salad too! Grits sounds great to me right now.

We're heading over to my mom's for dinner tonight.

I love seeing Katie cook (no pesky child labor laws about that, right?)

My husband's allergic to cantaloupe and bananas and honey dew, so he's no fun with fruit salads. They all love pineapple though.

This was a yummy post!! I didn't see any pictures of those yummy sounding brownies though....

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Rhea--I don't like honeydew or canteloupe...so there is none to be found in my fruit salad! I use: pineapple, clementines (or navel oranges), grapes, strawberries, and watermelon.

The brownies are a secret...shhh...

Rhea said...

My husband would love your fruit salad!!

Surely those brownies aren't a secret anymore...can't your family smell them?!!

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

It is a yummy fruit salad. We finished it off last night with dinner (instead of making a green salad).

No...sadly, the brownies are no longer a secret. They won't last long now...

John Deere Mom said...

Oh, I LOVE grits. Love them. I wish more places around here served them. Thank God for Cracker Barrel! :)

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Angie--Welcome! I am not a big fan of grits...unless they have LOTS of butter and salt. But in this casserole...they are fabulous. Even my dad...who despises grits...liked this recipe. It's really easy...would love to know if anyone actually tries it!

Tiffany said...

Hey Kat,

Just ran across this recipe on your blog. What type of shredded cheese do you usually use or think works best with the grits? This recipe sounds WONDERFUL!

Unknown said...

Hmmm ... Jay keep going on about the grits his Mum cooked for him. maybe I should give this a try as it does look good !!

Kori said...

Oooo the coveted Grits Casserole. Mmmm yummy.

lynette355 said...

grits butter and sugar
yummm
i think my family would like this but i would have the harder time
ok i am weird too
i dont like eggs so can you taste them in this
i know odd question but i try to cook eggs where i cant taste them