Dad's Baked Bacon Chipotle Cheddar Cheese Grits

My dad is probably the best cook I know. He is my go-to person whenever I have a question about how to make something. I would guess that he learned to cook from my Grandmother, because she too, was wonderful in the kitchen. When I was growing up I remember breakfast being one of my favorite meals to make together. A few of my favorites were sausage biscuits & gravy, silver dollar pancakes, french toast with peanut butter on top, omelets (in an electric skillet he still has to this day), and of course--grits! We never made these fancy chipotle grits, but nonetheless, they were always delicious. I asked him to come up with some kind of fun recipe for my blog so he put this together for me. I haven't tried it yet, but after thanksgiving I plan to and I have no doubt that they're amazing.

Dad AKA Tooje at the wedding!

So, here we go, Dad's Bacon Chipotle Cheddar Cheese Grits:
This is a simple and quick recipe for a Southern dish, with a Mexican touch. If you are not from the Southern USA, you may say "What are grits?" "To say it simply, crushed corn. Grits are small broken grains of corn that are often mashed apart by stone mills. There are hundreds of farms that grow corn and dry it out, and then grind the corn into grits and cornmeal (the finer ground corn)." source

If you cannot get Grits, Polenta will work fine. It just cooks a little faster as it is more finely ground and yellow instead of white. Preparation time - About 5 minutes Cooking Time - 15 minutes, 5 on the stove and 10 in the oven. I used my toaster oven.

Ingredients - Per individual serving of about 8 oz.
1 cup of water
3 slightly rounded tablespoons of uncooked grits
1 slice of bacon
Chipotle Cheddar Cheese - Roughly the size of a slice of cheese but twice as thick. Use about 2 regular sized slices per serving. If you can't find chipotle cheddar, regular cheddar will do.
1 pat of butter (Don't worry. More fat is coming soon.)
Cholula Chipotle Sauce (If you really like hot and spicy, use your favorite Habanero sauce, but then you cannot call it Chipotle.)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325F / 160-165C.
Prepare the bacon until crispy & once cooled, break into tiny pieces. (Don't even think about using fake bacon. Pork fat rules.)
Boil water water then add the butter and grits.
Reduce heat.
Add a bit of salt and pepper, maybe more salt than you would think.  Grits always need a good dose of salt.
Follow cooking instructions on package for the grits.
Cover but stir often and when they are starting to thicken nicely (about 1 minute before done) add about 1 and 1/4 slices of cheese--the rest is for the topping. If you are using a baking dish, use 1 slice of cheese per serving.
They should be neither runny nor dry, just the consistency that allows barely allows you to pour them into the bowls-BUT don't pour yet!
If they seem too thick, add a little bit of water at a time.
At this point you can add in a bit of Cholula hot sauce to kick it up a notch.
When grits are done, stir in bacon and immediately transfer to baking dish or bowls. (I use ovenproof ceramic bowls, each holding 1 cup.)
Top each bowl or the dish with the rest of the cheese. If using baking dish, sprinkle cheese all over.
Sprinkle on some Cholula to make it look pretty.
Put in the oven or toaster oven for 10-12 minutes.
Put under broiler for the last minute or two until cheese starts to bubble.
Let cool 5-7 minutes.

If you haven't made grits before, you may want to practice before you serve to guests. The consistency is important.

Provecho! (Bon Appetit in Spanish, pronounced Pro-VEY-Cho.)

Hope you enjoy this! I would serve these not just for breakfast, but maybe with a salad for lunch or dinner...or fried chicken if you want to go all out. I plan on sharing lots of my Dad's recipes on here in the future. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Love you Dad!