Green Chile Grits with Chorizo

I totally ate a box of dirty rice with the rest of this chorizo. It was Zatarain’s, and I loved every minute of it. Guilty pleasure. While it cooked, the smell reminded me of Rice-a-Roni, and immediately took me back to childhood. I did eat the mixture with a bunch of green beans to feel less guilty about the 2000+mg of sodium I ate give it something green.

The whole reason for chorizo was for grits. The store fridge only sells them in packs of four, so it had to happen. These two lone extras sat in my nearly empty [real] fridge along side the jar of capers, apparently expired jar of jam, tub of curry paste, and box of baking soda. That’s damn near the entire contents of it. I’m really not exaggerating.

Do people cook with grits often? I feel like I’m new [late?] to the rodeo. I sought them out in the bulk section, which is my BFF, and even caved and bought a quart of cow’s milk to cook with. Priorities. I had no idea they cooked so dang fast, like ‘five minutes after you bring it to a boil’ fast. Super fast.

The original recipe had you roasting your own pasilla chilies, and while that sounded like a fun and delicious endeavor, I was hungry. And lazy. They sell roasted chilies in a can for just such an occasion. Roast your own if you’re so inclined. I’ll offer you a high five in exchange.

The end result was a creamy, comforting bowl of spice. It takes the things I love about the taste of cornbread and the consistency of mashed potatoes and marries them in to delightful pile of mush. The consistency turned into something I can only seem to describe as a thick pile of oatmeal [which sounds way better than sludge, which I originally entertained]. The roasted chilies weren’t nearly as spicy as I would have liked, but that’s what the spicy chorizo and bottles of hot sauce are for.

[PS – Happy 31st anniversary to my parents; they’d enjoy this]

Inspiration: Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 7oz can of roasted green chilies, drained
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup quick cooking grits
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 large chorizo sausage links [mine were already cooked]

Preparation

Bring the water, milk and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Mince/grate the clove of garlic and add it to the liquid mixture. Once boiling, add the grits and the chilies. Stir everything together before turning down the heat to a simmer and covering with a lid. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes until thickened to your desired consistency.

While it cooks, slice the sausage links into coins and sauté quickly in a frying pan on medium high heat to heat them up and allow them to release some of their juices. Remove from the heat.

After the grits are thickened, remove them from heat and stir in the butter. Continue stirring until it’s melted completely. Stir the chorizo in now, or top a bowl of grits with several coins for a much prettier aesthetic.