Shrimp and grits is a dish that I enjoy from North Carolina. It's one of those dishes that is so rich in flavor and texture.
Don't ever take a dramatic lesson. They will try to put your voice in a dinner jacket, and people like their hominy and grits in everyday clothes.
I'll bring my grits when I travel, because I get so hungry on the road.
All Southern cooks have tried their hands at shrimp and grits, and each one has his or her own version of the dish. My mom used to season her shrimp with garlic and onion and just prepare the grits with a little salt and pepper.
I was weaned on chicken-fried steak and hominy grits with goopy gravy all over. I loved meat and wore fur.
Our traditions have been waking up on Christmas morning and feasting on a southern breakfast. I'm from the South. We eat grits and biscuits and gravy and eggs with Ritz crackers and country ham, bacon, you name it.
I don't think people should be fed mesclun salad and chicken breast. My grandmother would serve grits and oxtail stew at a formal dinner, and if you didn't like it, well then you ate more beans or you went home and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Stone-ground grits are wonderful, but because they take so long to cook, I usually go with quick cooking grits - which I also love. But I never make the instant kind - some things a Southerner just won't do!
I love a good breakfast - grits and eggs, French toast, turkey bacon. My grandmother on my father's side used to make tea cakes, and her breakfasts were unbelievable. There was fresh ham, and she would go out to the yard to get fresh eggs. She lived in rural Louisiana, and we'd spend summers with her.
Mr. Grits: THAT'S MR. GRITS TO YOU!
