Classic Cheese Grits

Simple Southwest Cooking, p. 65

6 cups salted water

1 ½ cups quick cooking grits

1 pound American cheese, or Colby, or Cheddar, grated

½ stick butter (4 tablespoons)

¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bring salted water to boil. Stir in grits. 

Yay grits!

Cover and cook until thick, stirring occasionally. 

I always have a small crisis over "cook until thick" - it's thicker than it was, but it is thick enough?! We may never know. So I cooked it for about five minutes and hoped that was sufficient.

While hot, stir in cheese, butter, and hot pepper sauce. 

Yes, it's a pound of cheese. You're not going to eat it all at once, nor are you going to eat it every day. It'll be ok.

The hot sauce doesn't end up being overwhelming. There's just a happy little bite at the back of your palate when you eat the grits. 

Let cool slightly, stirring to release heat, then fold in eggs. Pour into a 2-quart casserole dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. 

Cheese in...

Bake 1 hour. 

...cheese out!

And then you gobble it up while it's still all hot and gooey. 

My Rating: 4/5 "Really good. Really unhealthy, I'm sure, but sometimes it's ok to indulge yourself. Because this tastes really good."