Once upon a time, before I fell in love with New Mexican chiles, Colorado peaches, and Wisconsin beer (and cheese), I grew up in the South. It wasn't really the 'true South' since we lived on the coast with an expanding flux of New Yorkers and New Jersey folks overtaking the beach-side real estate. However, half of my family was fairly southern-like (my Dad's side has a strong accent), and we all certainly loved southern food, fried and fatty. Every week I was fed grits for breakfast, topped with butter, salt and pepper - as any good Southerner should consume grits. I didn't know what decent oatmeal tasted like, or whatever 'cream of wheat' was (sounded disgusting to me at the time). I never knew what grits were really made of - corn, sure, but the rest was a mystery. It didn't occur to me that grits are the same as cornmeal. NO! Oh yes, it's true. I never realized that corn, ground into different consistencies, becomes cornmeal, grits, and that I'll-never-cook-hominy. My mom, being a good pseudo-Southerner (she's from LonGisland but moved to the South when she was just a wee one), once made the faux-pas mistake of asking for 'grits' in a snooty Colorado health-food store. 'Oh, you mean 'POLENTA' was the storekeeper's response. Needless to say, my mom rolled her eyes and gave him a glare.
Tonight I cooked Creamy Parmesan Polenta (GRITS!) with Sauteed Cherry Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Topping. It calls for coarse-ground cornmeal (none of that inferior stone or, god-forbid, quick-cooking). This is one of those rare quick-to-make Cooks Illustrated recipes. This dish was fantastic. Ok, so it passes one of my important criteria: lots of cheese (2 kinds - whoo hoo!), but the sweetness of the tomatoes combined with buttery, cheesy grits was really really good. Really good. The best grits I've ever tasted. Yo. Y'all.
