Cheese grits

Courtesy of Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk (you may need more)
• 2 cups water
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated/shredded

Place the milk, water, and salt in a large pot over medium/high heat and bring to a boil. Stir often, so that the milk does not burn. You don't want that.
Once the milk mixture comes to a boil, gradually add the cornmeal while continually whisking. Be careful with this step, because this is when clumps are most likely to form. It might be helpful to use two people for this one, so that one person can whisk violently while the other person delicately sifts the cornmeal into the milk. Whatever.
Once all the cornmeal has been incorporated, decrease the heat to low and cover.
Remove lid and whisk frequently (every 3-4 minutes) to prevent grits from sticking and clumping. You may find that you need to add more liquid. We couldn't bring ourselves to add more whole milk, so we added skim (about 1/2 cup total), and that worked fine.
Cook for 20-25 minutes, until mixture is creamy.
Remove from heat, add the pepper and butter, and whisk to combine. Once the butter is melted, gradually whisk in the cheese a little at a time. Serve immediately.

VARIATION: Add some steamed corn into the grits. It is delicious. I highly recommend it.

Thoughts: Fantastic. The grits sort of have a subtle flavor, but it is a delicious flavor. I can't really imagine them without cheese, but we'll try some variations later, I imagine. Again, we have some pretty major clumps in ours because we didn't add the cornmeal slowly enough, but with some frantic whisking, we managed to make them unnoticeable. Just be careful on this one. Don't eat too much of this in one sitting, or you'll become a fatty. To be completely honest, it pairs nicely with Sauvignon Blanc. How dare you doubt me? Try it.

Disaster index: 1/10