Stan -- you left off one of the main reasons for eating grits-- they are: 1, cheap; 2, quick; and 3, easy, but the best reason is they are good! Down here around the northern Gulf Coast, cheese grits are not just for breakfast-- they are often served with fried fish, especially mullet. In our family, fried mullet was often served with grits for breakfast.

But back to the "greens", have you ever eaten broccoli leaves like collards? I actually like them better than collards.

Well, I guess I am going to show my true origins.
I eat grits............ with LOTS of sugar!
Darren

Hi Laaz,
You posted

Quote:

Mullet ? We use Mullet for bait.

I can understand your comment-I tried some large Atlantic coast mullet that had been frozen-and it was awful I like mild tasting fish like flounder, turbot, cod, haddock,mahi-mahi,and grouper-but am grossed out by strong tasting fish.However I grew up eating fresh relatively small fried mullet-and they are not bad at all.Years ago when gill nets were still legal my father and I would spend many hours out in Gulf coast bays and bayous fishing for mullet.We would often catch several coolers full and eat what we wanted and give the rest away-it is a lot of fun giving away fish However I do not eat any large mullet or mullet that are not super fresh!
We eat grits for breakfast and like Skeeter with fish-especially cheese grits.After I finished my education at U of F I attended bible college with a bunch of yankees down in central Florida- some of them were trying to eat grits with milk and sugar I had to teach them to use butter,salt and pepper on their grits! No wonder so many yankees dislike grits-they are nothing like cream of wheat or oatmeal! Darren I suspect that you would fail all of Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck tests! My mother is a farm raised Florida Cracker and my dad though from New Hampshire was a redneck wannabee- he even took up chewing tobacco and using a CB radio and bought 40 acres to farm and raise some animals near Fort White,FL.

Phillip, Thanks for that story about getting the account back by eating grits! You know, your friend had to just prove he was a " good ol boy" and he was In Like Flynn! I dont eat Mullet and grits but heres a low country favorite that will make your tounge slap yo face!
Shrimp and Grits:
one pound of fresh peeled deveined shrimp
one half link hillshire sausage cut in thin rounds
one small onion chopped and diced
a dozen or so button mushrooms/sliced in slices
one half cup flour
one cup water
one pot of hot grits.
Cook grits in seperate pot, while cooking sautee the onion and mushrooms in a skillet using enough vegetable oil to brown them. Add sausage and shrimp and stir until shrimp are cooked. Remove all ingredients from the skillet, leave heat on med high and add the flour to the oil that remains in skillet... Sprinkle flour in a little at a time stirring constantly to prevent lumps.. Then once all the flour is added, pour in the water and stir.. then put shrimp, sausage, onions and mushrooms back in the skillet and stir a few more minutes... add salt and pepper to taste and serve over a plate of hot grits! If sauce is too thick more water can be added. Now thats some Southern Eatin!

havent tried the brocollii leaves but I WILL!

Yea, I would fail the Redneck test. My New Jersey up bringing taught me that grits are really only edible with LOTS and LOTS of sugar. Milk doesn't work for me though. 2 parts grits-1 part sugar works about right for me!
Darren

Out west you would be very hard pressed to find grits anywhere. Not a single restaurant would ever put in on their menu, or serve grits, and it is not available in the store. However, I have eaten grits when visiting in the south. Actually, I find unless you add some sort of flavoring, such as butter, grits do not have much of any taste at all. Mullet is unheard of out west, and probably for the better. Around here it is steak and potatoes, and a lot of Mexican food.

I was raised near the Atlantic in SC, and have always had mullet rolled in corn meal and fried golden brown (as well as a lot of other seafood). Grits was a staple in my parents home, as was rice. (ever heard of red rice? - I guess that is another story)

The best mullet I have ever had was in a firehouse at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, while visiting there when I was in the Fire Service. They were large fish, and the men had fillet each side before frying them. Fried the backbone too. Mullet have a gizzard, looking much like a chicken gizzard. The men had prepared the gizzards, like you would a chicken gizzard, and fried them too. Not bad eating! That was the first time I had ever known anyone to cook mullet gizzards. A mullet fry was a commom occurance there. They use special mullet nets to catch them.

Ate a lot of Stan's recipe, plus grits, or biscuits smothered in shrimp gravy, and a local favorite callled Frogmore Stew. This is but one version, but it is pretty much the norm. Good eating. http://www.mattleeandtedlee.com/recipes/frogmorestew.php

Ned

When I am in Atlanta, I always save one night to eat at Mary Mac's restaurant. Mary & Mac are at least 80 years old, probably diciest by now. Their fare is southern cooking and is served family style. Greens, sweet tea, fried okra, cabbage & beans, sweet potato pie, collards, fried chicken, etc. The last time I ate at Mary Mac's they only served fried okra on Tuesdays, Thursday and weekends. Our group paid the cook an extra $25.00 to cook us all (6) a large batch of okra. Originally, I found out about the restaurant from the fellow in front of us, while standing in a taxi cap line, who turned out to be the financial manager for the music group The Doors. When I was in the US Navy, stationed on board the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard, Admiral Morrison, who was the father of Jim Morrison, the lead singer for The Doors, commanded our ship and the fleet. It certainly is a small world.

Hey Skeeter,
Funny you should say that.....My Father in Law has been trying to get me to believe that it is illegal to eat sugar on your grits in South Carolina.
Anybody that knows me just blows it off as that Damn Yankee.
You guys all know that joke right.
A Yankee is somebody from up north that comes and visits:
A DAMN Yankee is one that comes to visit and STAYS!
Darren

Believe me when I say...Stan likes his Collard Greens....he tried to give me some of those NASTY things ...but I saw him haul them by the pickup load, meaning somebody must like them.

...think I'll stick with my mandarins....Dobashi Beni is good..ate one today...but not as good as the "Mr. Mac" we ate last week

Jim