Easter (and New Year’s) wouldn’t be complete in the Sims household without ham, black-eyes, corn bread, cheese grits and apple sauce. The “recipe” for cheese grits comes from my mother-in-law, Jonell Sims. And like all good family recipes, it is more of a guideline than anything else (you know, very few specific measurements). What makes Jonell’s Cheese Grits so famous? They are extra spicy and super fluffy. Wanna know the secret? Okay…here goes:

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of water
  • 1 cup of Quaker Quick Grits
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
  • onion salt
  • season salt
  • cayenne pepper
  • tabasco pepper
  • worcestershire sauce
  • 3 eggs (separate the yolk and whites)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Pour 4 cups of water in a medium or large pot. Bring to a boil. Add 1 cup of quick grits. Cover and reduce heat to low/medium. Cook for 5 minutes (until quick grits are done).
  3. Add butter, cheese, spices (to taste) and egg yolks to grits. Stir until blended.
  4. Grease 9″ x 13″ pyrex dish.
  5. Pour cheese grits mixture into pyrex dish.
  6. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
  7. Gently fold egg whites into cheese grits.
  8. Bake 45 minutes to an hour at 325 degrees.

Warnings

Cayenne pepper and tabasco sauce are both made from very hot peppers. If you can take the heat…use as you dare. Jonell’s cheese grits are known to be addictive.