JALAPENO CHEDDAR GRITS WITH POACHED EGGS
JALAPENO CHEDDAR GRITS WITH POACHED EGGS
Jalapeno Cheddar Grits served with poached eggs are perfect for a lazy Sunday brunch. Grits are the epitome of comfort food and these have been spiced with a hint of jalapeños, garlic, and cheddar cheese. Just like a fancy brunch place but ridiculously easy to do on your own at home!
What is your Sunday routine like?
Am I totally killing your vibe by talking about Sunday on a Friday afternoon? Okay, change of topic.
I kid you not I have the most indecisive mind when it comes to ordering breakfast. I’m that wife that asks the husband what he’s ordering before I figure out what I want. You know because, that’s totally wasting an option. I could just munch off the hubbies plate and get something completely different too! The truth is I can’t stick to one side. I need something savory and something sweet. My husband is an all savory kind of guy when it comes to breakfast. I mean, the man hasn’t met a chocolate muffin he didn’t like. Just don’t expect him to eat it at 10am. Also, something about no sweet stuff with his coffee.
I’m the complete opposite. Give me a stack of pancakes and a hot cup of coffee and i’m in hog heaven.
Have you ever tried grits before?
They are totally a norm here in the south. Would you believe my Chicagoan self hadn’t tried grits until my trip to Louisiana this past November. Yeah. I’ve totally been missing out. Because grits are amazing. Especially grits that have shrimp sitting atop of them all covered in some wicked good creamy cajun sauce. Holy wow. I need these again in my life.
So after months of craving those grits from Louisiana, I decided to make my own version. I wanted something with jalapenos and cheddar cheese. You know comfort food to the max. To my surprise grits are super easy to make. I’ll be honest I was a little scared on how they would pull together. And It went through without a single hitch. We’re not talking quick 5-minute grits. I’m talking about the real deal. Stone ground grits that will take a full 30 minutes to prepare. 30 minutes of your life that are so worth it.
My jalapeno cheddar grits have simple ingredients. We’re using a couple tablespoons of chopped shallots. If you don’t have any on hand, don’t fret. Just replace it with a bit of chopped red or white onions. A couple cloves of garlic, 1/2 a jalapeno, and bit of butter, a little water, milk ,and cheddar cheese. Other than the grits, these are all pantry ingredients.
Before making these jalapeno cheddar grits, I had never poached an egg before. To be honest, it was actually on bucketlist of culinary skills to perfect. After losing half a dozen eggs to the cause, I was able to perfect it. I tried the mason jar lid trick and though others had success with it, it was a total fail for me. So I went back to the basics.
Here’s a video that will help you if you want to learn to poach eggs. I poached the eggs one at a time as i’m definitely not brave enough to have a few going at once! You can poached them for 5 minutes if you like your eggs a little less runny, but that’s totally up to you. Also, you don’t have to serve poached eggs with these jalapeno cheddar grits, you can serve them with fried eggs too or whatever else you like.
Have a great weekend!
- 2 tablespoons shallots, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 jalapeno, minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 3/4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup grits (not quick cooking)
- 1 cup milk
- 4 ounces freshly grated sharp cheddar
- poached eggs (here is a [url href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAWduxoCgVk” target=”_blank”]video[/url] on how to)
- Heat the butter on medium high heat in a 2 1/2 – 3 quart saucepan. When the butter melts add the onions and garlic and allow to saute for 2 minutes. Add the jalapeno peppers and allow to cook for 30 seconds. Add the water and the salt and bring to a boil. Add the grits and allow them to come back to a boil before lowering the heat to the lowest setting. Allow to cook covered for 15-20 minutes stirring frequently so the grits do not stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Most of the water should be absorbed without the grits being completely dried out.
- Add the milk and continue to cook stirring for 10 minutes. Once once most of the liquid has been absorbed, add the cheddar cheese and stir to combined. Keep in mind the grits will thicken as they cool. So do NOT over cook. Serve warm with poached or fried eggs.
