Cream Cheese Grits for Secret Recipe Club

I love grits, which is a good thing considering I live in the south.   The first time I tried them, we were in Miami, heading to the Bahamas for a winter break.  We had time for breakfast before our flight and ordered our usual, Bacon and Eggs, not realizing that in the south Grits are what you get instead of hash browns, cottage fries, or home fries.   And we both liked the Grits, didn't miss the potatoes at all.

Fast forward a few years, and we are now living in the south and grits are everywhere.  I was introduced to Shrimp and Grits, a common way to serve it here, as well as Cheese Grits which are served with fried fish.  I've learned how to make Cheese Grits and even came up with my own spin on Shrimp and Grits when I made this awesome Cheesy Tomatillo Grits for Boat Club one month. 

So where am I going with this?  Well, it's time for the Secret Recipe Club reveal!!!!    I got Sarah's Kitchen  as my assignment, and started scrolling through her recipes to see what I wanted to make for my Secret Recipe Club reveal this month,  when I stopped at this one.  Cream Cheese Grits.   Honestly, she has a lot of fun recipes, but gee, when you spot 'the one', why keep going?  She also has a lot more recipes I want to try, later on.  But for now...

The Secret Recipe Club is a fun club.  We sign up for each month's "Reveal" and are assigned a blog to find and make a recipe from, and then reveal it at the same time on a set day.  We don't know who got our blog or which recipe they will pick to make and feature on our 'reveal' day.   I have fun seeing the tweaks some of my recipes have gotten, and have picked up a few tips along the way.  I've had so much fun doing this, and hope to continue it for a long time.    And I also now have such a large collection of 'must try' recipes from the different blogs that, well, I don't know how if I will ever make them all, but I can try.

I did cut down the recipe, and didn't make the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp to go with it, at least not this time.  There are only two of us, and we're trying to eat a little smarter lately.  But I gotta say, I will be making this again, and bringing it to one of the many potlucks we attend.  Or maybe I could make it for Tapas night, hmmm.   I think it will be a big hit.  For now, here is the recipe as I made it.  First though, a couple of notes about grits. I prefer the quick cooking kind, it only takes about 6 or 7 minutes.  Although the stone ground artisanal grits are great, and there is also the instant kind too, but I don't care for instant, anything. So... without further ado.

Cream Cheese Grits 

3/4 c. Grits  
1 1/2  cups whole milk
1/2 cup Half and Half (I had some that needed to be used, so I used it in this).
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup cream cheese. 
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Heat the milk and cream to almost boiling,  I had some heavy cream in the freezer so I used that  and it worked.    And yes, heavy cream does freeze, and quite well too. You can even make whipped cream from it.  Sorry, had to throw in a little hint there.  Now for the rest of the recipe how to's.

Whisk in the grits, turn the heat down and let simmer until cooked, stirring every minute or so. Continue to cook until the grits are done, this took me about 10 minutes.  If they start to get too stiff, add a couple tablespoons of milk, just enough to keep them from stiffening.  As soon as the grits are cooked, stir in the cream cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

I thought this made a nice change from regular cheese grits,

and in fact I ate it with some turkey and green beans.

 An interesting change from mashed taters.  

And now for the rest of the recipes the Secret Recipe Club bloggers made, take a look at these: