Grandma Grits with a twist

Grits are probably a scarce pantry item for us New England folk, and if you do have them- they may be collecting dust in the back behind your rolled oats or your corn meal. The familiar quaker face that we see on our more utilized grain and breakfast cereals is telling you to - Grab the GRITS, I am also telling you to GRAB THE GRITS. Also what is his name?

For me, Grits were a staple breakfast food at my grandparents house. My grandmother was a Czech from Punta Gorda, Florida. She had a sweet twang in how she spoke and was a fabulous cook, never EVER sitting down at the table until everyone had everything they needed, sometimes that took the entire meal, and then we were done and off to the next one, and she did it all over again.

Essentially grits are just a bland bowl of mush, like are they are corn? are they wheat? I don't know - someone google it. We ate them with runny eggs and bacon, and a piece of toast with guava jelly - and you HAD to crumble up the bacon and mash up the eggs and make one big messy bowl of schmutz. You spoon the mess onto your toast and the salty grits with the sweet guava is perfect and homey. So here are my Grits and Eggs, a way my grandmother would never make it, because she would not have sesame oil, or chili crunch in her pantry, but still an homage to her and Girls Raised In The South.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• Quaker Grits - Look on the back, the servings - measurements/instructions will be there.

• 2 eggs( or however many eggs you prefer), fried over easy

• 5 pieces of bacon

• 1 Scallion chopped for garnishing

• sesame oil

• soy sauce

• chili crunch ( optional but great)

• Cilantro or dill, or some sort or fresh herb chopped for garnishing

• Salt

• pepper

• chili crunch or chili oil for garnishing For the grits:

1. Look on the back of your quaker grits box and determine how many servings you would like to make, follow the instructions and add a generous pinch of salt to the water, stir and cover.

2. While these are cooking, prepare and chop your garnishes.

3. When grits are finished, add in a tablespoon of butter, and season with salt to your liking.

For the Bacon and Eggs:

1. While grits are cooking, Heat a medium sized pan on med/high heat- once pan is hot, add in your bacon. Lower the heat to med/low and cook each side for 5-7 minutes or until slightly crispy. Take out and place on a plate with a paper towel to drain excess grease.

2. Once bacon is cooled you can roughly chop these into smaller bits so that they can be incorporated easier into our grits-y mess. Set aside.

3. Frying our eggs in bacon grease, Do not overcook these eggs, you want the yolks runny. This truly is optional depending on how worried you are about your cholesterol and arteries: If you want, you can drain some of this excess grease, however, I do recommend leaving at least 2 tablespoons of bacon grease for your eggs to fry in. Crack two eggs in the pan on medium heat, season with salt and pepper, cook over easy. About 2 minutes each side. Assembling our grits and eggs: 1. In a bowl of your chosing add in your grits, roughly chopped bacon, and place your two eggs on top. Add all garnishes, herbs, scallion, a drizzle of sesame oil, a drizzle of soy sauce, and a teaspoon or so of chili crunch or oil on top . MWAAA!