Steak, eggs and cheese grits

Steak and eggs

I have two invaluable life-saving tips for you but, first of all, just tell me that doesn’t look scrumptious. Actually that first part is a lie. Neither tip will save your life. But in the realm of making really tasty food they are almost invaluable.

The first is about what may be the most delicious steak on the cow: the ribeye cap. Hardly anybody knows about this. Well, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt knows about it because he wrote about it on the internet, which I guess makes it a lie, too, that hardly anybody knows about it. But I didn’t know about it until Butcher to the Stars Bruce Adkins showed me some ribeye caps at The Butcher Block.

Bone-in and boneless ribeye steaks (2)

So if you take a look at this ribeye, you’ll see a solid center and then a rim around the outside of extremely well-marbled meat. That’s the cap. And what Bruce does is remove the cap, roll it up and tie it with kitchen twine. Easy as that. You could do it yourself. I will steal from J. Kenji to describe this steak: “The richest, butteriest, tenderest, beefiest bits of steak I’d ever put in my mouth.”

And  here’s the other invaluable tip: How to make grits. I believe hardly anybody knows about this either because I’ve had some pretty stinkin’ bad grits in my life. The good grits are so memorable because they’re so rare. The reason people make bad grits is that they follow the directions on the back of the quick 5-minute grits box. In fact, even calling them “5-minute grits” is just wrong. To make really good grits you have to:

  • Whisk them constantly for at least 20 minutes until they’re creamy
  • Use milk instead of water or at least half milk and half water – whole milk only, please
  • If you’re not serving them immediately, reconstitute the creaminess with more milk

And if you’re making cheese grits please be mindful that there are certain recipes that just require Velveeta. There just are.

 

Cheese grits
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons of butter
  • 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 cup Quick 5-Minute grits
  • 4 ounces Velveeta, cut into cubes
  • Salt and pepper
  • Whole milk
Instructions
  1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the minced garlic. Cook over very low heat until the garlic has given up its raw smell and is softened. Set aside.
  2. Boil the water in a 2-quart saucepan. When the water has reached a furious boil, add the grits and stir them continuously with a whisk for about 20 minutes until they are creamy. Taste as you go. You’ll know when you get there.
  3. Add the Velveeta and stir until it’s melted. Season with salt and pepper and taste.
  4. The grits will tend to solidify in the saucepan if you don’t serve them immediately. Add enough whole milk to thin the grits over low heat.
 

One Comment

  1. Tami
    TamiReply
    January 10, 2016 at 6:37 pm

    Ok, I’m headed to the kitchen to make cheese grits. I quit buying quick grits years ago. There is something to be said for laboring over a pot of grits. Gonna give your recipe a whirl.

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