CAROLINA PLANTATION Stone Ground White Grits, 16 OZ

Love me some good grits, & these are that.Here's how John Thorne does his, as described in his excellent cookbook, Mouth Wide Open.Now, ideally, I would have a fuzzy-logic Japanese rice cooker to make my grits. But those are, alas, a bit pricey. So, instead, I use a 1-quart slow cooker that cost me five dollars, which I found at Wal-Mart one holiday season in a display of kitchen stocking stuffers. I’ve never seen it there since, but Rival sells a 2.5-quart model (3225) that, though several times more expensive, has the advantage of a real glass lid and a removable insert with a nonstick coating (grits do stick). The following recipe slightly adaptsthe traditional 1-to-4 proportion of grits to water, since more of the latter is absorbed during the long slow cooking.[SERVES 1]1/2 cup traditional stone-ground white corn grits2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups water1 teaspoon kosher salt1 tablespoon butter• “withs”—see belowThe night before. If you are using a slow cooker without a nonstick surface, coat the bottom half of the pot with some of the butter. (This won’t keep the grits from sticking but will make it much easier to scrape them away from the sides.) Put the grits in the slow cooker and gently pour over the water. Use a skimmer to remove any chaff that floats to the top. (Or leave it and get a little more fiber in your diet.) Stir in the salt, drop in the rest of the butter, adjust the pot temperature to “low” if you have that option (I don’t), plug in the unit, and go to bed.The following morning. When you’re ready for break- fast, use a spatula to scrape away any grits that have stuck to the side. Stir these browned bits back into the general mass and get to work on the “withs”—the things you’re going to have with your grits. These might include:CHEESE. For upscale treatment, stir in some grated Parme- san or aged Cheddar; to go proletarian, melt in a slice or two of American cheese. The point isn’t to drown the grits but to just add to the pleasure of its company.GARLIC/FRIED ONION. Not, of course, garlic salt or powder or granules but the real thing, freshly minced or put through a press. Add this when you start cooking the grits for a subtle presence or 20 minutes before you serve them for a more assertive one. Thai fried red onion flakes, which are a prime reason for visiting Asian markets, make a splen- did last-minute addition to grits.EGGS. Here I mean eggs cooked directly in the grits. Use a spoon to hollow out an egg-size hole in the hot grits and break in the egg. If cooking two, make a separate hole for the second. Cover up the egg(s) with more grits and cook for another 20 minutes, or until the egg white is firm. Stir into the grits just before serving.SAUSAGE/HAM. Either of these can be added the night before, but I find the meat a little cooked out by morning. So, instead, I crumble some breakfast sausage into the steaming grits and let it cook another 20 minutes before serving, and treat little cubes of country ham (or ham fat) the same way.Here's how I do mine, using a basic on/off/keepwarm Oster rice cooker with non-stick insert pot:1/2 cup stone ground grits2 cups milk1/2 cup water1/4 stick of butter1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon course ground black pepperMethod: Place all ingredients in rice cooker, turn on, and come back in 20 or 30 minutes. Grits will appear watery. Stir them up & they will congeal into Good Grits. I find that no additional butter or salt/pepper is necessary.

I bought these grits so I could make shrimp and grits for an overseas friend who had never had grits before. They cooked up smooth and creamy (I used 5:1 water:grits and cooked slowly for about an hour), with a perfect corn flavor. I would buy these again without hesistation.

I hoped for better. Stale.. into the trash.

Not as spectacular as you make belief

Simply the best grits on earth!This is what good southern grits should be!

Great. The real deal Holyfield.

Love the texture of these grits

These are wonderful! I had only had grocery store grits before, but now I am hooked on stone ground. They are richer, cook up creamier. Excellent product! Plus I love the cotton bag they come in. Works great in my farm decor.