White Cheddar Ancho Chile Grits

Did anyone love last weekend’s rain as much as I did? I spent the whole weekend cuddled up in my house, not wanting to leave. I slept a lot, cooked a lot and watched a lot of Revenge. Don’t tell me what happens! We thought the DVR was set to record but it wasn’t! Blast! So, it gave me another excuse to keep watching the rest of season 1, instead of skipping ahead to season 2.

While cuddled up this weekend, I was craving cheese and carbs, typical. I scoured Foodgawker, and stumbled upon this gem of a recipe. This ancho chile butter really catches your eye! It’s a wonderfully cheesy, warm, smoky dish that will be perfect for many cool autumn nights.

You’ll need:

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 tablespoons shallots, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 pint cream

2 cups white grits

1 1/2 cups grated White Cheddar cheese

2 ounces dried ancho chiles (1 package)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

This recipe is adapted from Bijouxs

I started off by shredding the cheddar. Set aside.

Mince the garlic and shallots. You can find shallots near the garlic in the produce section.

 Sautée the garlic and shallots with olive oil for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Be careful not to burn them!

 Next add the cream and chicken stock to the skillet. Continue to sautee over medium heat for another 2 minutes. Then pour in the dried grits. Stir and bring just to a boil.

Then transfer the grits into a slow cooker. Cook on high heat for about 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.

 Grab your dried ancho chiles.

 Soak the ancho chiles in warm water for about 10 minutes or so, or until they soften. Cut off the stems and deseed the ancho chiles. Dice them up. Place the ancho chiles and about 1/8 cup of water into a food processor. Pulse until it forms a paste.

 In a small skillet, melt the ancho chile paste and butter together over medium-low heat.

Oh, this looks nice.

Once your grits reach the consistency of oatmeal, stir in the shredded cheddar. Mix well.

 Serve the grits in a bowl or as a side. Plate the grits first and pour the ancho chile butter over top. Or you could stir all the ancho chile butter into the grits in the slow cooker. Either way will taste great, this one just looks prettier 🙂

 The white cheddar and cream give the grits a great consistency. The ancho chiles give a great smoky flavor that isn’t too spicy.

Enjoy!