I like my grits with....

[tbn.al]

Recipe for Red-eye gravy: Cook country ham on stovetop in iron scillet,remove ham, pour couple cups of regular, strong coffee in scillet with grease ; let simmer and stir. Is very good on grits.

"Houston, we have a problem..."

Ham grease + coffee ≠ gravy.

I'm thinking there's some sort of flour, etc. necessary...

LJ"not a gravy person"V

Houston had better check their red eye recipies. No flour needed, nor wanted. Just coffee and grease.

[Evil Ronnie]

Recipe for Red-eye gravy: Cook country ham on stovetop in iron scillet,remove ham, pour couple cups of regular, strong coffee in scillet with grease ; let simmer and stir. Is very good on grits.

"Houston, we have a problem..."

Ham grease + coffee ≠ gravy.

I'm thinking there's some sort of flour, etc. necessary...

LJ"not a gravy person"V

Red eye gravy isn't a thickened gravy like a typical sawmill/cream/sausage/milk gravy. Red eye gravy is more like a (au) jus, or a thin pan sauce. Helps to have lots of fatty, porky country ham bits in the bottom of the cast iron skillet, which are then deglazed with the coffee and reduced (boiled) down 'til lightly thickened.

Think salty, hammy goodness drizzled over the soft creamy grits.

[lowpitchmoravian]

Red-eye gravy is a mainstay at the local cafeterias and restaurants in most of the South. Yesterday I ate at the local cafeteria with my highschool class and ordered "grits with red-eye". No questions asked.

[Brown Mule]

I love grits with shrimp. This dish is on many menues in south.

[iiipopes]

I checked "cheese..." etc., but I like grits just about any way you want to cook them and serve them.

Hmm...I did note one very important point lacking in the poll, which, of course, I mention with intrepidation, as the pointed discussion of the preference of which could lead to a second civil war: white or yellow?

[Uncle Buck]

white or yellow?

Yes and yes.

I'd never had anything but white until this year. Bought and tried the yellow. I like them both.

[Rev Rob]

I love my grits with butter and honey or real maple syrup. This combination also works well with Cream of Wheat, Cream of the West, and Cream of Rice, oatmeal too if you are without any of the above breakfast grains.

[iiipopes]

One of the best stories I can tell about sausage gravy happened in the office I worked in @ 20 years ago. The office had an intern from a local college who was a Canadian national. I don't remember how the conversation came up, but she had never had sausage gravy as we know it, didn't know anything about it, didn't know how to make it, didn't know how to eat it, etc. Well, that summer she wanted to stay on as a paid assistant. I arranged for her to rent a room for the summer from family friends, and after she got moved in we all went over that Saturday morning, took all the fixin's and taught her how to make biscuits and sausage gravy. She is now a Roman Catholic canon lawyer in Kentucky. I assume that somewhere along the line she also learned what grits are all about as well.

[lowpitchmoravian]

This thread jogged my memory back to growing up at home------------------my mom would make paddies of grits in her hands ,put lard or ham grease in an iron skillet, and fry the paddies---------------GRITS PADDIES.

[Brown Mule]

Collard greens and corn bread

[Kevin Hendrick]

I like my grits with....

....sand from asphalt shingles - recovered from roof gutters.

"Grits on a shingle"?

[tbn.al]

What y'all are calling "red eye gravy" we'uns call "ham gravy..." Same difference, I reckon...

This is more like what we call "red eye gravy..."

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1926,147 ... 07,00.html

Cooks.com had better check their sources. Webster's definition doesn't include flour and neither does Wiki, "Red Eye Gravy's name comes from its distinct appearance. Prepared traditionally, when coffee and grease are combined in the final step (see Preparation, below) the coffee and grease form a heterogeneous mixture, with the water-based coffee sinking to the bottom and the oil-based grease forming the top layer. In a round bowl, therefore, the mixture looks much like a red human eye." It really is red. When you add flour you get saw mill gravy. Both are delicious!.........on biscuits.