Fried Mush

As most of you who read this know, I've lived most of my life in NC. It's only really been in my adult years that I've lived anywhere else. I've gotten used to being asked questions such as, "Where's your accent?" and you "You must like grits." The funny thing is, I don't remember ever eating grits growing up. I remember being offered some on some camp outs as a teenager, but I tend to go towards either sweet or meaty breakfasts.

Anyway since I'm now living back at home I've managed to reclaim some of my old habits. Turns out one of the reasons I enjoy cooking and food so much is there's just not that much going on here. I mean mega boring. So anyway my mom has taken to watching this cooking show "Motlo Mario". He's a large Italian-American chef who has a very good approach to a cooking show. The food looks delicious and he shows you most of the steps involved in making the meal. Anyway thanks to various dietary and taste prejudices my poor mom often feels caged in what we can prepare for dinner. My mom has always been more adventurous and creative with food then I am, and is easily the best cook I know, anything that I make that tastes good I've either learned to make from her or have based off of principles that she's taught me.

So we watch a lot of Mario. He likes to talk about food cultures and explain terms. Anyway, one of the ingredients/dishes is Polenta. Now Polenta=grits (And I'm not crazy I promise). So turns out my Grandma (97 this month) used to eat grits as a child. She often forgets that my mom does make it from time to time. One of the things that my great-grandma used to do with it was let it set in a bread pan, slice it and then fry it in oil. You then can drench it with yummy stuff like syrup or powdered sugar. Think of it like french toast or a pancake, just gritty.

So last night my mom was feeling creative so we did some grits with very basic sausage sauce for dinner. The sauce was delicious (if any of you are ever in eastern NC you HAVE to try Bass Farm Sausage, for those of you who haven't. It's the best.) Now I know that grits aren't my favorite thing. The taste is pretty bland/not there and the texture is very grainy. But these things can be a bonus. I remember growing up and everyone talking about how much they loved cheese grits. Which always confused me because well, grits sounded gross and it took me a long time to make up with cheese. It being melted has always helped. So the first thing I tried last night was a bite of grits with just some strong aged Parmesan sprinkled on top. Delicious. Now I know I'd probably not care for most cheese grits because it was delicious because of the quality of the cheese and the grits, like the little champs they are stood up and took on the flavor of that yummy cheese.

So then I tried it with the sausage sauce, which had a hint of tomato, but the strongest flavor was that yummy sausage. Yet again the grits carried the flavor and spread it out. Then this morning we were able to have enough left over to try fried mush. I ate mine with powdered sugar and maple syrup. While not as yummy as other traditional breakfast options, it was quite yummy and a good way to render day old mush.

So the consensus, I don't really care for grits (I'm a noodle man, through and through). But I don't really hate them, they just need something with a strong, bold and cutting flavor to liven them up. I do think it was a fun and exciting way to mix up our diet a bit and have some exciting and different food.

I think given some time me and grits may grow even closer together, who knows?