My Idaho family was introduced to cheese grits when Mike's mother came for our wedding in 1975. She prepared cheese grits for a family gathering and my mother asked for the recipe. From there it evolved and became a favorite at any family gathering where served.
For the bicycle club's Christmas dinner we were provided a Greek theme in honor of several members who cycled Greece last September. Not much interested in the Greek theme, Mike said we would bring cheese grits from the south. His implication might have been the south of Greece, but he meant to take regular ol' southern cheese grits casserole. I thought we should be better sports, so I checked online to see if someone else might have made grits using feta cheese. Sure enough! I found it – Feta Cheese Grits.
"What if we don't like it," asked Mike. "What if it isn't good?"
"It doesn't matter," I replied. "We will have participated as asked."
But it really was pretty good. Here's the recipe as I made it.
FETA CHEESE GRITS
4 cups grits, cooked (about one cup uncooked grits to four cups water)
¾ cup feta cheese (3.5 ounces)
½ cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
Dash pepper
½ tsp oregano
Cook grits until thickened. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into 7x11 baking dish. Bake at 375 for 10 to 20 minutes.
When we make our favorite cheese grits, we use Velveeta, and when I say feta cheese grits was "pretty good," I don't mean that it will ever replace Velveeta in my standard recipe. But – we tried something new, we participated, and comments were positive. KW
5 comments:
We're going to have to try this. I love feta cheese. Cheese grits were also new to Barbara - though her Baltimore mother was southern enough to serve breakfast grits - and are one of her favorites, especially when we have a ham.
Mike bought the cheese for me and since I didn't specify, came home with fat-free. I probably would have used the full-fat deal. Yes, grits and ham are great and so I often carried cheese grits to the Easter gathering. However, some members of my extended family would add them to Thanksgiving if they could -- along with the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, etc. We tell those folks it just mustn't be done.
Cheese grits with no garlic? I learn something new every day. And if one is being adventuresome, cheese grits with fish or shrimp can change one's attitude about breakfast.
Unfortunately Kathy is not a garlic fan. Grits and fish or shrimp sounds good to me. I've also been thinking a few jalapeno peppers mixed in the cheese grits would be good.
Say it isn't so! It is just plain wrong to mess with cheese grits fixed the regular way!
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