Simple Eats.

Before i left for New York and Maine (impromptu trip added to the end of the NY trip) i made Julia Childs famous Boeuf a la Bourguignonne and Poulet en Cocotte Grand-Mere from Le Cordon Bleu at Home. I didn't take any pictures of the poulet process, which was not complicated but certainly time consuming, but i would encourage EVERYONE to give it a try. The end result is out of this world. 

The boeuf took me 2 days to complete....this could be because i started it at 8pm, but nevertheless it was intense. Complicated and time consuming. It was also easily one of the best things i have ever eaten.

While i will be posting that step-by-step recipe here, i thought i would start with something simpler - which i made WHILE i was cooking the bourguignonne recipe. insane.


This whole recipe happened because the first step of making the boeuf is to cut up a slap of salt pork and then boil those pieces. So i did. Then i had this pot of nicely flavored water, and it seemed a shame to just throw it out.

So after i removed the salt pork, i threw in a cup of grits - polenta for those not from the south. 

                                       

After these boiled away tightly covered for 5min. i removed them from the heat, stirred in a half cup of heavy cream, a few pieces of smoked provalone, salt and pepper. 

Heres all the ingredients: 

                                        

And thats it! 7min. from start to finish! 

I sprinkled some cayenne on top and the end result was cheesy creamy grits with some heat and just a hint of smoky bacon. Yum. 

I stuck the leftovers in the fridge, and if i had though of it the next morning, would have made grit cakes! To do that you simply form the cold grits into 1/2 inch thick patties and fry them in a skillet with some butter. It would have been so fantastic with a fried egg laid over the top of the patty...im sad i didnt think of it before! 

Off to upload the photos i took in the past 2 weeks...theres over 1500 of them. yikes.