15 minutes prep
40 minutes active cooking
55 minutes total
A poor peoples’ food for millennia in Asia, it’s more recent history here in America is interwoven with slavery. Enslaved rice growers from Africa created the lucrative Carolina rice trade, enslaved people pounded the grains to polish them, and enslaved people ate the broken rice deemed unfit for sale.
Rice grits cook up to a creamy consistency similar to grits, and like many of the cast-off foods poor people were forced to subsist on and make delicious, eventually became desirable. Today’s rice grits come from whole grains broken on purpose.
For the shopping list
Carolina gold rice grits
2-3lb celeriac, peeled and grated
From the kitchen
hot water
From our shop
From the kitchen
Grater
Chef's Knife
Cutting Board
Sauce Pans
Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
I wanted to add flavor with celeriac, one of my favorite vegetables, and, inspired by a technique from a Seattle restaurant, cooked the grits and root vegetable together in a savory broth."
Combine 1 1/2 cups of rice grits, the celeriac, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 4 cups of broth in a saucepan. Have another saucepan or kettle of hot water ready.
Bring the grits gently to a boil, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. As the grits thicken, add more hot water 1/4 cup at time, stirring and scraping with each addition. Continue to stir frequently.
Continue cooking, adding water as needed, until the rice is soft, 25-30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Taste and add salt if needed.