BREEZY CHEESY TOMATO GRITS

 by Cheesemonger Carolyn
inspired by breakfast with Cheesemonger Evy

Meet Prairie Breeze! One of my favorite recent additions to our lineup, she’s a lovely little white cheddar, a bit fruity and sweet on the nose with a creamy, nutty finish. With only a couple years’ age, she’s perfect for melting and just the right level of richness for breakfast! Enter the Breezy Cheesy Tomato Grits — Prairie Breeze-infused grits with a buttery tomato topping that perfectly balances the cheese’s natural sweetness. If you can handle a bit of spice and smokiness, add some smoked paprika to the grits and red pepper flakes to the tomatoes to amp up the contrast even more. Add a fried egg on top and a cup of caffeine on the side and you’ve got a beautiful morning ahead of you. This recipe is inspired by Cheesemonger Evy, who is (surprise!) my roommate, and the many wonderful cheese-laden breakfasts we’ve shared in our years of friendship. So share it with someone you love! Happy cooking! 

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

For the grits:

• 1 cup old-fashioned grits (or style of your choosing; see note)
• 4 cups water, plus a few tbsp extra as needed
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to season
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (if desired)
• 2-4 oz Prairie Breeze Cheddar (see note)

For the tomatoes:

• 10 oz cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbsp butter 
• a garlic clove or two
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt 
• pinch to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (if desired)

To serve:

• Four eggs (or one per person), plus butter or olive oil to fry
• Scallions, slivered

PROCEDURE

1. Start the grits: add 4 cups water and 1/2 tsp kosher salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. While you wait for water to boil, do your prep: finely grate up the Prairie Breeze, rinse and halve the cherry tomatoes, mince the garlic.
   
   
2. Make the grits: into the boiling water, gradually whisk in 1 cup old-fashioned grits, a few spoonfuls at a time, until blended. Cover and lower to a simmer, then cook grits until thick, creamy, and tender, 15-20 minutes or according to package directions. Keep an eye on these as you prep the tomatoes — you’ll want to whisk every couple of minutes to prevent lumps or burning, and may need to add a tbsp of water every now and then if they start getting too thick for your liking.  
   
   
3. Make the buttery tomato topping: in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tbsp butter and add minced garlic, halved tomatoes, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and red pepper flakes if desired. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are mostly collapsed and very saucy, 5-7 minutes. Set aside. 
   
   
4. Taste test your grits — you want them to be mostly tender with a bit of texture still. If they're ready now, proceed to the next step and then fry eggs right before serving (or delegate the task to your partner/child/roommate etc). If they still need a bit of time, you can fry the eggs now! You can obviously do this in whatever style and to whatever doneness you prefer, but here’s how I did mine: in a nonstick skillet, heat a glug of olive oil till shimmering. Crack in the eggs, season the yolks with salt and pepper, and fry till whites are opaque and crisping/browning on the edges and yolks are shiny but still a bit runny, 3-4 minutes.
   
5. Once grits are cooked through, take them off the heat and stir in butter and garlic powder and the smaller amounts of smoked paprika (if using) and Prairie Breeze. Taste test and add the rest of the paprika and Prairie Breeze if desired! 
6. To serve, put a ladleful of grits in the bottom of each bowl. Top with a generous spoonful or two of the buttery tomatoes, a fried egg, and a shower of scallions. Admire your work — but then mix it all up to eat so the flavors can become friends. Bon appetit! 
   
   

NOTES

• There are so many types of grits available: I used the Quaker Old Fashioned ones here, so stick to those if you want to copy my cook times. If you can find fancy stone-ground ones, they will be absolutely delicious in sort of a rustic way but will probably need 30-40 minutes simmering. On the other hand, you CAN cook most varieties of bulk instant grits on the stovetop, the texture will be better than in the microwave and they only take about 5 minutes.
• 4oz of Prairie Breeze makes a VERY rich, cheddary grits base — it will probably taste too strong on its own but I promise you with the egg and tomatoes stirred in, the balance is perfect. But if you’re skipping the tomatoes or just prefer a lighter flavor, stick with 2oz!
• To make ahead: store grits and tomato topping separately, covered in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can reheat the grits either in the microwave or (my preferred method) in a saucepan over low heat; either way you will want to thin them out with some water as they’ll thicken up in the fridge quite a bit. Tomatoes can be reheated in the microwave or just stirred in to the warm bowls of grits. Eggs should be fried just before serving!