The Artist Eats An intersection of art, food, and culture.

Giant in the Kitchen: Strawberries, Two Ways

So Arianna is out of town this weekend singing some jazz gigs in Denver. I’m beginning to realize that her absence has had an odd effect on my meals. It’s not necessarily for the negative, but is certainly a change from the norm. When she’s around I cook like a fiend. I’m always roasting garlic and making butterscotch sauce and getting up in the middle of the night to bake bread for our breakfast toast. In other words, I do my best to make sure we eat like royalty.

I’m not particularly eloquent when I speak, so I find that I do a better job of expressing myself through my actions. I put effort into my cooking because I see it as a physical manifestation of my affection for her.

I’ll give you a for instance; I woke up early last Monday and made up this meal for breakfast:

I call it Strawberry Grits Arianna, but that’s not a particularly specific description because I tend to name everything I make that tastes good after her (i.e. Arianna Pizza, Arianna Alfredo, Pasta Primarianna, Fresh River Trout Arianna with a Roasted Garlic and Sage Brown Arianna Butter sauce… you get the drift).

What I really made were strawberry grits. We have an abundance of strawberries in at Fair Shares, and I have been taking full advantage of their deliciousness.

The thing is, now that Arianna is out of town, I don’t feel compelled to cook to quite the same extent. I’ll give you another for instance – this was my dinner Friday night:

That’s right, I ate an entire quart of strawberries for dinner. The only reason they’re in the bowl is because I couldn’t wash them in the cardboard pint container. This is a healthy, seasonal meal, but it’s certainly a bit more rustic than my usual Friday night repast. Let’s call it, for consistency sake, Strawberries Kevin.

I don’t want to give the impression that I have a low sense of self worth; that I don’t think I am worthy of Strawberry Grits Arianna and have relegated myself to a life filled with Strawberries Kevin whilst humbly awaiting her return. I just have a harder time pulling together a full meal when I’m cooking alone.

Both meals were quite tasty and are worth trying.

Strawberry Grits Arianna

Grits are one of those down home delicacies of which non-southerners seem to be blissfully unaware. If the runny white stuff served at Waffle House is the extent of your gritty knowledge, you should give them another chance. Good grits are buttery and peppery and all kinds of delicious. I usually eat them as a side with eggs, fruit and coffee, but they also work well as a breakfast cereal.

I always use stone-ground cornmeal for my grits, Hodgson Mill and Bob’s Red Mill both have good stuff, but use what you’ve got as long as it’s coarsely ground. I greatly prefer yellow cornmeal – I think it is considerably more flavorful.

The basic proportions for making grits are 4 parts liquid to 1 part cornmeal with a good knob of butter thrown in at the end. I use half water and half whole milk for my liquid. I find that this gives it a good creamy consistency which is still greatly improved with a bit of butter. For Strawberry Grits Arianna, I used 1 and 1/2 cups of water, 1 and 1/2 cups of milk, and 3/4 cup of cornmeal.

Heat the liquid to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the grits gradually to avoid clumps. Mix in a large dash of cinnamon. Cover and turn down to low heat stirring about every four minutes.

While the grits are slowly cooking, hull and slice fifteen to twenty strawberries, maybe about half a quart.

Stir two thirds of the sliced strawberries into the grits and reserve the rest for topping your bowl at the table. Continue to cook, stirring regularly.

When the strawberries have broken down and your grits are getting a nice rosy tint to them, add a splash of vanilla and stir in honey to taste. The grits only need to cook for about 25 minutes. You’re good to go once they have an even, smooth, consistency. Turn off the heat and stir in a knob of butter.

Serve and enjoy.

Strawberries Kevin

Take one quart of strawberries. Wash thoroughly in that old metal colander that your mother gave you with the big holes that make for an easy clean up later. You know the one.

Serve and enjoy.