Grits. What to do with leftovers?

In every restaurant there are menu items that cannot be sold after the service they are intended for. There are food banks for leftover bread and produce but once a starch is cooked, what to do with leftovers?

Do you make grits at home? Maybe turn them into cake when you've had your fill or bowlful? Sculpt with them? Feed them to the pig in the barn?

All ideas welcome. Even silly ones.

Comments

[Husband]

For grits... fall back on the classic souther tradition. Deep fry 'em. Lay them out on sheet tray, topped with parchment or silt pad. Once firm, turn 'em out. Cut shapes. Drop in the fryer. You can season them with herbs and cheese up before you help them set up in the fridge.

[kane]

spread leftover grits onto sheet tray, cool to set; cut into cubes, roll in sugar and apply flame...tastes like caramel corn (I've only tried this with plain grits)

[Leela]

Hi Shuna,
I use leftover grits (if they are unsweetened) like polenta; flatten them and let them harden in a greased pan; then cut them into squares and saute in olive oil or butter with some kind of pasta sauce or cheese on top; yum! By the way, I just got back from the market, with our local fresh fruit - no stones yet, but incredible berries!
xo
Aunt Lorraine

[Don]

Fry them. The best I've had were shaped, let dry over night so the surface could brown (try to fry fresh grits, you can grow old before they color at all), then cooked like a sausage patty. You can get a crispy golden hash-brown-looking patty that’s the consistency of custard inside.

[Sara]

Do like italians do with leftover polenta: slice and fry it in plenty of butter. I like to put a few sage leaves in the melted butter and fry it together with the polenta. You can top it with shaved parmesan.... Sooooooo good.

[mary b]

chill the grits over night-then fry em for yummy grit frys!

[julie]

Hush puppies.

[anita]

yep, that's what we do, too. Like chicken salad from roast chicken, I think I like the leftovers maybe even better than the original meal.

[cory]

paddle the hell out of them and turn them into spoon bread.

[Beth Ann]

I know people that freeze them to have around later. Thaw them & you can re-heat them in the microwave.

[Deidre]

Ha, that sugar and flame idea sounds awesome.

I tend to smash them into a buttered pyrex and use them as a crust-type base for a casserole on one of those nights where you chop up whatever is left in the fridge, grate some cheese, add milk and eggs and throw the whole thing in the oven...

[Virginia]

As previous posters stated, treat it like polenta. Spread in a pan or cylinder and slice into rounds or shapes. Fry the grits cake and its crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. I like sauteing them in olive oil/butter mixture.

Why not use a grit cake for a base for a special or an amuse bouche the next day?

I've also heard of people breaking it up and adding it to eggs like a filling for omelets instead of potatoes. Onion, Ham, grits, herb omelet tapa?

Hope this helps.

[Mincemeatmagic]

How about spreading out very thin on silpat and dry in low oven, deep fry these tuilles and sprinkle w/savory salt for a new chip w/beer?

[kudzu]

I'm going to have to admit that I never have leftovers, even though I eat grits for breakfast at least several times a month. But here are a couple of fantasies off the top of my head: mix them with browned crumbled pork sausage (or bacon bits) and sauteed onion and seasonings of choice and use them to stuff peppers or tomatoes...Make a dessert with them -- milk, eggs, fruit, sugar, spices to suit? Let me know if you try either of these.

[Chicken Fried Gourmet]

okay everyone above me has said everything I would have said, deep fried, etc

take the leftovers and heat with a mixture of cream and chicken stock to thin out

streak across a plate with a pastry brush for a not too heavy accompianment to some kind of protein, make a sauce with reduced cane syrup/root beer / veal stock

[Gwyneth]

Make a shepherds pie and put it on top instead of the potatoe

[Tommy]

Lots of good suggestions here. I especially like the idea of making grits chips to accompany beer... Anyway, here's mine: Incorporate them into waffle batter. Then top the waffles with some unlikely combination of your choosing.

[--Lisa]

Shrimp and grits. Guess what I am having for dinner tonight now.

[shelly]

Following the dessert idea... could you turn them into a souffle/pudding type thingy, then serve with cool seasonal fruit on top like plums and a large spoonful of soft whipped cream? Scramble it with eggs and serve with a side of bacon? You could try incorporating it into Peruvian causa, although that might be a bit weird. On the other hand, who knows, it might be quite tasty. (I've not had the canned tuna causa which sounds a little weird. The versions of causa I've tried had egg and/or chicken.) Mix it with onions and garlic browned in schmaltz or lard and stuff a casing with it to make a southern-Jewish hybrid kishke?

[shelly]

Liquify and use as wallpaper paste.

[shelly]

oooh, one more.

Mix with copious amounts of gelatin and iceberg lettuce. Pour into large club chair shaped mold. Refrigerate until set. Carefully remove from mold and spray with shellac. Sell in SOMA for $5,000 as recycled furniture inspired by mid-century modern cuisine.

Beside sharing some with the pooch I usually use the leftovers when I make bread on sundays. It makes the dough incredibly moist.

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

Leftover grits? Surely you jest!

[Nan]

I make grits for my Southern-born husband every Sunday morning - and he eats the leftovers every Sunday night...he puts the clump of them - still "pan-shaped" into a bowl and pours milk on top - pops them into the microwave until they're heated through and then he eats them...moaning all the while about how good they are...I didn't say it would be a pretty picture!

[Carol]

I would probably add them to bread dough. On the other hand baked grits topped with a savory topping sounds like a good way to enjoyably finish them off. The dog sitting at my left votes for feeding them to her - then again that is always her vote.