I know, I know, I know....You don't have to tell me. I've been away for awhile and the moment that I come back...BAM! I have the nerve to drop something like this on you. Ah well, the fact is that I won't apologize for working hard on my other projects any more than I will for rolling out one of my all time favorite dishes as I embark on my comeback. For the folks that don't know about it, bless your soul...let me introduce you to your new favorite soul food brunch item, Grits and Grillades.
Lets get the obvious out of the way right here and right now. This is another of what will certainly become DOZENS of recipes with origins from the deep south, particularly Louisiana. Seeing as it is my opinion that all authentic soul food (American) can be classified as southern food, but not vice versa (all southern food is not soul food) you may as well get used to it.
So, grits and grillades. Lets explore. Grillades are not some kind of exotic shellfish that the good people of New Orleans lay claim to as a local staple only found in their region. Fact is, grillades can be a varying number of types of proteins used for this dish. I'm using pork, but beef, venison, chicken, veal are all frequently used. Traditionally, grits and grillades is a dish that is served for brunch, but it's not out of fashion to eat them for breakfast or dinner and serving them over rice is also acceptable. I know my nephew Corey will appreciate hearing that. (as though he actually cares what people think of his leanings toward rice) I love this dish. I really, really do but as I went about my research to find out how to prepare an authentic version, I became a little perturbed.
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| Any number of kinds of meats can be used as grillades. For my recipe, I'm using (surprise) pork shoulder. |
My discomfort with learning this dish was not associated with the "what" so much as it was with the "how." It's not the sweet, sweet grits and grillades that had me rather uptight, but it was more so how often I discovered the great joy people seemed to get in taking a simple dish and making it as hard to make as they possibly could.
Food Snob Rant
There is a burden that all of us cooks that are not in or from Louisiana assume and are often thrust under by many of the cooks that ARE from the Louisiana region. That burden we toil under and in many cases, against is what I call "sufficient authenticity." Cooks like me (not from or in Louisiana) that love the foods with origins from that region are often discredited with being incapable of producing those very dishes with the same authenticity as our southern based peers. We don't have the same easy access to many of the ingredients that are preconditions to cooking authentic versions of the food, fair enough, but what I found in my research was that the recipes using mostly the same ingredients calling themselves "authentic" were just a bunch of good cooks doing things their own way. These cooks were informed by the traditions, but not inexorably bound to them. In layman's terms, the dish was simple but people made learning how to do it good, a chore, even as they touted an authentic means that they do not themselves employ as a singular standard. I ain't mad at em though...anymore.
Doing It Good
What I love about grits and grillades (besides eating them like there is no tomorrow) is how complex the flavors can become as coaxed out of simple ingredients. And, unlike so many of the cooks whose recipes I reviewed, it doesn't take hours to get to those flavors, but neither is moving too quickly (like some others I reviewed) the right move.
The middle ground is the ticket on this dish. Not too simple, not too complex. The ingredients are as basic as it gets, same for technique. The outcome however, is a deep tapestry of tender soul foodie goodness. Here's what you'll need to make a good sized pan.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds pork butt pork steak (use a cut with plenty of fat on it)
1 Large onion (medium chopped)
1 cup celery
1 green bell pepper
1 cup mushrooms (sliced)
1 medium tomato (cut into chunks)
1/2 cup fresh parsley
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 cup seasoned flour
1 cup red wine
Bacon grease
Butter
Basic savory seasoning blend
Start with either chicken stock or by creating a stock using 4 cups of water, 3 chicken bullion cubes and add to it: Several shots of Hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, one bay leaf, 1/4 onion, 1/4 cup of red wine, 1/4 cup parsley. And 1/4 cup of celery. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer on very low.
Cut the pork butt steak into three inch strips (grillades) and pound flat (1/4 of an inch) then season both sides and the flour with the basic savory spice blend (season salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder) Lightly coat the grillades with flower and fry in bacon grease (if you have it) in hot pan until just brown on each side. Remove grillades and sauté the rest of the chopped vegetables in the same pan. Be careful to add the garlic and tomatoes at the end only after the rest of the veggies have been cooked and are starting to soften, and don’t cook them long enough for the garlic to burn or the tomatoes to break down. You want pieces of soft, unctuous tomato left in the finished dish. Remove all of the sautéed veggies and set aside to start your roux.
Add bacon grease and a pat of butter to the same amount of the seasoned flour in the hot pan (see my post on roux colors) Once you have the roux to the desired color, stop the roux by adding the sautéed veggies to the pan along with the rest of the wine. Slowly add the stock to the roux, wine and veggies stirring to avoid lumps. Once the stock is fully incorporated, add the grillades and any juices that they may have released to the pan and let cook and reduce tasting for seasoning. The grillades should cook on medium heat in the sauce for about 20 minutes until the sauce thickens, then they are done. Simple. Complex. Delicious.
Kev
