Grillades & Grits
The Reeds love their meat! Pork, not beef in this instance. Mom in her White Lily flour apron with her smoker, taken for my parents’ Holy Smoke book.
Mom and Dad eating (pork) BBQ at the now defunct Allen & Sons with their friend, the writer, Calvin Trillin.
BEEF! Barnyard painting by Uncle Albert Volberg, 1895.
Bull painting by Uncle Albert Volberg, 1895.
The passenger list that Mom found for Uncle Albert’s trans-Atlantic crossing from Hamburg
If you spent much time talking to my mom in the last decades of her life, she probably mentioned her interest in family genealogy. She was an amazing sleuth and could find all sorts of lost people and documents. In fact, once she was going deep on my brother-in-law’s family and someone raised an alert, “Who is this Dale Reed woman?!” She alarmed them with her depth of knowledge about their family. Mom was extremely useful, so they calmed down once they realized her intentions were pure. If you had the genealogy conversation with Mom, she probably talked about her great uncle Albert. Uncle Albert was Charles Albert Volberg, born in 1870 in Friedrichsdorf um Tannus, Germany. He came to America in 1881 and settled in Atlanta. In his brief life (he died at 34) he did some interesting things. He was an artist and worked as a newspaper illustrator, both in Atlanta, GA and Oakland, CA. He later switched to photography as his medium when his eyesight started failing. Albert eventually went blind. Mom made a great effort to get him listed on various artist websites. She put together a catalogue raisonné of sorts and was in the process of turning over her research to the Atlanta Historical Society when she died. (That reminds me that I need to follow up on this!) Mom made it her mission to honor Albert’s work and to help people remember him. Now I am making it my mission to honor Mom’s work and to help people remember her. Full circle, people! Being such an accomplished artist, Albert could tackle many subjects. The ones I best remember are the charming farm life scenes that hung over the sofa in my Nonnie’s den and, later, on the wall in my parents’ library. Cows, chickens, the usual… but not cheesy.
Speaking of cheese, one time when I went to summer music camp at 14, my roommate and I declined the cafeteria lunch option, feeling confident that we could provide for ourselves with a tiny dorm mini-fridge. WRONG. We ate so much crap. I basically lived on Diet Pepsi and cheese. I remember talking to Mom on the hall phone saying, “I just need some protein! I’m craving meatloaf!”. Well, I’ll be damned if Dale Reed didn’t roll up to the door with a meatloaf wrapped in tinfoil for parents’ weekend. Bless her. Ironically, this is the same meatloaf recipe that later nudged me over the edge to being a vegetarian in my 30s. I had been home for Christmas and at that time I was heavily into yoga and was already pretty meat-lite. Mom made back-to-back dinners of meatloaf, Cincinnati chili, and pulled pork. The Reeds like their meat! While that might sound like heaven to some, it didn’t sit right with me and when I got back to Texas I launched into a decade-plus commitment to being meat-free. I’ve always joked that the only way to rebel against your parents (particularly mine!) in middle age is to become a vegetarian. My BBQ loving parents took it in stride but I sure have eaten a lot of coleslaw over the years. Now, I’m mainly veggie but will occasionally go rogue, especially for one of Mom’s tasty recipes.
I mentioned in my Chicken Country Captain post that Mom and Dad also served Grillades & Grits at my sister’s wedding party. I figured I’d share that recipe with you today. I found this article, which gives a good background on the dish: Grillades & Grits is the Best New Orleans Breakfast You’ve Never Heard Of. I’ve actually never had it for breakfast but that sounds like a good idea, especially after a night of New Orleans level revelry!
GRILLADES & GRITS
Serves 4
If you want to do it as a stew, I’d cook twice as much meat, and add potatoes and carrots. Should be lovely that way.
1 lb 4 oz chuck steak 1/2-inch thick
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons bacon fat or lard
1 1/2 cups sliced onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped red or green bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons bacon fat or lard or Crisco
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh, ripe tomato
1 1/4 cups water or stock
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more)
1/4 cup Pepper Sauce (the stuff with the peppers in vinegar—Texas Pete in NC)
or just use vinegar with hot sauce to taste.
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh parsley
4 1/2 cups grits, cooked
Cut the steaks into 2-inch squares. Mix the flour, salt, and pepper and dredge the steaks. Heat the bacon fat in a skillet or sauté pan over high heat and sauté the meat on each side, browning well. Remove the meat to a holding dish, leaving the fat behind in the pan.
Sauté the onion, celery, and pepper in the same pan until tender. Add garlic and stir well. Push the vegetables to one side of the pan. Add the additional 2 tablespoons of bacon fat and stir in the 2 tablespoons of flour. Stir the roux well and cook until it turns a rich medium brown. Add the water or stock and stir all until smooth.
Return the meat to the pan and scatter the tomatoes over all. Season with thyme, basil, red pepper flakes, and the Pepper Sauce or vinegar. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until tender, about 40 to 60 minutes—I cook it a long time, till it’s very tender.. Taste for salt and pepper and stir in the 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley. Serve over hot, well-buttered grits.
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