Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Goat cheese grits with baby vidalia onions

These really were made to go with the recipe that follows for balsamic-cocoa glazed oven ribs--they are a match made in heaven! Start your grits in a mixture of 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup white wine. Combine in a pot with 2 tablespoons butter. And bring it to a boil.You need some grits! Not the instant kind--get real, slow-cooking grits.You need 1/2 cup. Doesn't look like much, does it? But it will end up as enough for a side for 2-3 people. Amazing.Slowly whisk the grits into the boiling water-milk-wine mixture.It will seem pretty liquidy even after incorporating it all in. But that's OK.Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened. It will take about 30-40 minutes, but doesn't require psychotic attention so you can concentrate on doing other things. Voila. Pretty much done here.Meanwhile, you can get the seasonings together. I had a bunch of baby vidalia onions--they started showing up in markets not long ago down here in Georgia. I love their flavor; they aren't so sharp like scallions. If you can't find baby vidalias specifically, you can use spring onion. It has three parts--the white bulb, the long middle white part, and the green tops.Cut apart all three, and slice the middle white part into thin rings.Set aside the sliced white rings and reserve about 2 tablespoons of the green ends for the grits as well (you can use the bulb and the rest of the greens up when you make the ribs).And get some goat cheese!You need about 2 ounces (that's half of the small cylinder package above).Your grits are done, so turn them down to low and stir in the goat cheese until it all melts in...And add in the white thin rings of the onion, plus salt and pepper to taste.And finish them up with a sprinkly of the greens on top. Creamy and delicious. Lonely though--they really want some ribs on top...Ahhhh. There we go.It's amazing you know--but this is really just the same thing as a classic polenta with a slow-cooked meat ragu on top. Southern American or Southern Italian--really, what's the difference? :)

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