A Brief Remark:
Stone milled grits benefit enormously from soaking in water before cooking. This shortens cooking time and improves the finished texture.
Grits are best cooked (and eaten) without rushing.
Your patience will be rewarded.
You’ll need:
A heavy-bottomed medium pot to cook the grits in
A small pot for keeping extra water hot
A fine small strainer for skimming the chaff
A spoon or spatula for stirring the grits
Ingredients:
1 Cup….. Honeycomb Stone-Ground Corn Grits
2.5 Cups….. Water, plus some extra for later
Salt, butter, and black pepper, added at the end to taste
The Night Before:
Place the grits in your pot and cover with 2½ cups water. Stir a little and allow the grits to settle a few minutes, then use a strainer to gently skim off any chaff that floats to the surface. Cover and let the grits soak overnight at room temp.
The Day Of:
Set the pot over medium heat and stir until the grits are simmering and starch begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to the lowest setting and cover the pan. Meanwhile, heat the extra water in a small saucepan or kettle.
Every 8-10 minutes, give the grits a stir. Any time you find them getting overly gooey-thick, stir in about 1 cup of amount of the reserved hot water.
Cook until the grits are creamy and tender throughout, but not mushy (40-50 minutes total) adding a pinch of salt halfway through the cooking time. To finish, stir in a big chunk of butter and a few cracks of pepper. How much, you ask? Follow your heart, I say.
Taste and adjust the seasoning as you desire before serving.