Sweet Potato Grits
Sweet Potato Grits can take your grits to the next level.
Equipment
- 1 sauce pot with lid 3-quart
- 1 set dry measuring cups
- 1 whisk
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 rimmed baking sheet pan 1/4 size
- aluminum foil
- 1 plastic bowl with tight-fitting lid
- 1 cutting board
- 1 chef's knife
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup uncooked fine-ground white corn meal (white grits)
- 2 tsps Himalayan pink salt
- 2 tbsps light brown sugar
- 2 tbsps pure maple syrup
- 3/4 cup half-and-half
- 3 tbsps butter Unsalted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.Rinse the sweet potatoes to remove any dirt, and then prick them with a fork. This releases any steam from the potatoes and prevents them from exploding during cooking. Wrap each of the sweet potatoes in aluminum foil. Depending on how large the sweet potatoes are, bake anywhere from 1 to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Gently squeeze the potatoes to make sure they are soft all the way through. Allow the potatoes to cool slightly before scooping out the flesh. Transfer to a Tupperware bowl with a lid to stay warm until needed.Instructions for Sweet Potato Grits: Place 4 cups of water and pink salt into a heavy-bottomed sauce pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once the water reaches a rolling boil, whisk in the uncooked white cornmeal. Whisk until it comes back up to a boil (this will happen relatively quickly, and the grits will start to sputter), immediately reduce the heat to the lowest setting, continuously whisking, and cook for 5 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and the grits thicken and become smooth.Still over very low heat, add the fork-crushed sweet potatoes, and whisk until well combined. Switch to a wooden spoon, add 1 tablespoon of butter, half-and-half, maple syrup, and brown sugar, and stir until smooth. Finally, add the remaining butter, place the lid on, and allow the butter to melt and pool on top. Before serving, stir in the melted butter. Serve hot.There you have it, my Sweet Potato Grits.
Notes
Grits vs. Polenta1) Polenta is also made from boiled dried cornmeal. Unlike hominy grits, the corn used for polenta is not treated in an alkali solution to remove the hull. Polenta is also often made with Italian flint corn instead of American dent corn. However, you can cook grits and Polenta in the same way, and both are interchangeable in this recipe. 2) The fine-ground white grits will cook quickly than the coarse-ground variety. Do not walk away from the pot; continue to whisk. 3) Linda Lou Hamel is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value are important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through the online nutritional calculator of your choice. Calories and values can vary depending on the brands you choose.
