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Grillades With Cheesy Grits And Baked Apple Porridge For Breakfast

I am forever searching for recipes that are a bit different to offer for breakfast. I saw this recipe on Spicy Southern Kitchen, Christin knows a thing or two about comfort food, it sounded absolutely delicious and I knew I had to make it. The other recipe I found is on Nicole’s wonderful blog The James Kitchen,  it’s called Baked Plum Porridge but I decided to use apples since they are in season. Both recipes are comfort food at it’s best, warming and filling and a great way to start the day. When the weather turns colder smoothies don’t cut it for me, don’t get me wrong I still love them but I have a tough time drinking something cold. I want a warm meal and these two delicious recipes satisfy.

The Grillades can be made a day ahead, all you do is warm it and make the grits. The recipe calls for an economical cut of beef. round steak which can be quite tough, it needs to cook a long time to tenderize, this is why I say to make it the day before. It actually tastes even better the next day. I made a few changes, you can click on the link above to see the original, here is my take on this great dish. Traditionally the beef for this dish is cut into medallions and pounded thin, I bought already thinly sliced round steak and cut it into strips. I was gifted a container of Creole seasoning from my good friend Emily and I hadn’t used it, when I saw this recipe I thought it would be the perfect recipe to try it out, and I have to say I love it, thanks Em!!

Grillades With Cheesy Grits

Serves 6 generously

1 1/2 lb thin sliced round steak cut into strips

8 links breakfast sausage

1 stalk celery, cut into small pieces

1 small onion chopped

1 small (baby)red bell pepper chopped into small pieces

1 small yellow,(baby) orange or green bell pepper

1 clove garlic sliced

Flour to coat meat Approximately 1/3 cup

2 tsp creole seasoning (added to the flour)

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried basil

14 oz beef or chicken stock

1 1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes or 1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp red wine vinegar

hot sauce (tabasco or chill) approx 1 tbs.

salt and pepper

olive oil or bacon fat to fry the meat and vegetables (I used bacon fat)

Heat the oil or bacon fat in a skillet, Add the flour and creole seasoning to a ziplock bag and put the beef strips in and shake the bag so that each piece is coated. When pan is hot first brown the sausage and set aside then add the beef and let it brown, remove from pan and set aside (you may need to fry the beef in two batches)

While pan is still hot add a little more oil or bacon fat,  the onion, celery and peppers and cook stirring frequently until they soften, now add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes until garlic softens. Take 1 tbs of the seasoned flour you used for the meat and sprinkle on the vegetables and stir. Let the flour cook with the vegetables approximately 1 minute and then add the stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and add the vinegar and hot sauce, bay leaf and basil. adjust the seasoning and add the beef, cut the sausage into bite size pieces and add also. Cover and cook  on low heat stirring frequently until meat is tender and sauce is thick, approximately 1 1/2 hours. Refrigerate over night heat and serve the next day with the grits. Be sure to remove the bay leaves before serving!!

Grits:

First let me say I didn’t use stone ground grits, just regular Quacker brand. To serve 6 you use 1 1/2 cups grits to 6 cups liquid. I used 3 cups water and 3 cups whole milk and 1/2 tsp salt. Add the grits when the liquid comes to a rollling boil stirring constantly, let cook following package instructions (about 15 minutes) For cheese grits add 1 cup grated cheese I used manchego (my fave).  When the grits are done and you have removed from the heat add some butter and the grated cheese. Stir until the butter and the cheese melt. Serve immediately with the grillades.

Baked Apple Porridge:

I made it exactly like Nicole instructed, see here, except I switched apples for plums. I sprinkled the apples with cinnamon and a little nutmeg before putting the oat mixture on top.

Nicole used plums which are much softer and cook quicker than apples and I should have thought of that when making this one. Next time I make it I am going to pre bake the apples for about 30 minutes to soften and caramelize them and then I will add the rest of the ingredients.

It is so delicious, the oats become almost fluffy, not too sweet, the gentle spicing of cinnamon and nutmeg are wonderful with this warm comforting dish. A splash of cream or dollop of yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup make this a memorable and delicous breakfast.