Ansom Mills Grits Recipes

Steps:

• Make ragù:
• Pat lamb shanks dry and season with kosher salt (rounded 1/2 teaspoon) and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Brown shanks on all sides, 6 to 7 minutes, then transfer to paper towels to drain. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pot, then cook onion, garlic, plum tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, celery, mushrooms, and fennel with thyme, red pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Return lamb shanks to pot with stock, bourbon, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and honey and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until meat is very tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
• Remove meat from bones, discarding bones, and skim fat from cooking liquid, then return meat to pot. Simmer ragù, uncovered, stirring frequently, 15 minutes.
• Just before serving, stir in radicchio and scallion.
• Make grits while ragù finishes cooking:
• Bring stock, water, and milk to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Add grits in a stream, whisking, then cook over low heat, uncovered, stirring frequently, until grits are tender and thickened to the consistency of loose oatmeal, about 20 minutes.
• Toward end of cooking, finely grate one fourth of cheese (1 cup) and add to grits along with sour cream, sea salt, and pepper to taste. Stir until cheese has melted. If grits are too thick, stir in some additional milk.
• Serve ragù over grits and top with shavings of cheese.

Steps:

• The night before you wish to serve, place grits in a heavy, medium saucepan (Ms. Rentschler recommends a type called a Windsor saucepan; I used a Le Creuset). Add 2 cups spring or filtered water and stir once. Allow grits to settle a full minute, then tilt the pan and, using a fine tea strainer or fine skimmer, skim off and discard chaff and hulls. Cover and allow the grits to soak overnight at room temperature.
• Heat 2 cups water in a small saucepan to a bare simmer and keep hot. Set saucepan with grits over medium heat. Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the first starch takes hold (see above - it means that the mixture will begin to thicken and you will no longer have to stir constantly). Reduce heat to lowest possible setting. The grits should not be bubbling, they should be sighing, or breathing like somebody in a deep, comfortable sleep, rising up lazily in one big bubble, then falling as the bubble bursts. Watch carefully and each time they are thick enough to hold a spoon upright, stir in about 1/4 cup of the hot water. Stir in the salt after the first 10 minutes of gentle cooking. It should take about 25 minutes for the grits to be tender and creamy and by this time you should have added 3/4 to 1 cup water (perhaps a little more) in 3 or 4 additions.
• When the grits are done - tender, creamy but not mushy, and able to hold their shape on a spoon - stir in the butter vigorously, add pepper, taste (carefully - don't burn your tongue after all that care) and adjust salt. Serve immediately.