Rosalynn Carter’s Baked Cheese Grits

Rosalynn Carter’s baked cheese grits are light, fluffy, almost souffle-like, with lots of extra sharp cheddar and crispy bacon. They are soooo good! 

In honor of Women’s History Month which begins on March 1st, my Sunday FunDay friends and I are sharing recipes from inspirational women. I am hosting so my instructions for the theme were simple: “Make and share a recipe from an important, significant woman in any field, not just cooking, and from any era. It can be something they were known to love OR actually cooked themselves. Please tell us how they are inspiring to you and perhaps others.”

As I researched various women of significance, hoping for a person that wasn’t a cook or chef yet had still shared at least one recipe of something we might actually like to eat, I came across several recipes purporting to be Rosalynn Carter’s cheese grits. Most of them had Vidalia onion and bacon so I was totally onboard, until I discovered that those were later additions by a fellow blogger and everyone else had just copied her. 

I also came across a grits recipe from the White House Cookbook which turned out to be the one the blogger had embellished. When I finally found Rosalynn Carter’s actual original recipe, shared on the back of an Equal Rights Amendment flyer, it was pretty basic so the recipe I am sharing here is a sort of combination of both. 

[“ERA Flyer Back,” National Organization for Women, Tallahassee Chapter Records, MSS 2008-033, Box 15, Folder 5, Florida State University Libraries Special Collections & Archives, Tallahassee, Florida.]

I chose Rosalynn Carter to honor because of her advocacy for better mental health care throughout her life, starting as first lady of Georgia in 1970. As she said in an interview when asked why she chose to focus on mental health: "For every person who needs mental health care to be able to receive it close to his home, and to remove the stigma from mental health care so people will be free to talk about it and seek help. It's been taboo for so long to admit you had a mental health problem." 

Carter was ahead of her time and I am certain her advocacy helped a lot of people get the care they needed. Truly an inspiration. 

Rosalynn Carter’s Baked Cheese Grits

The original recipe, as you can see, did not call for bacon or cayenne but I do believe that both are a great addition to this baked cheese grits recipe. In The White House Family Cookbook, by Henry Haller, the method of adding the eggs and their number was changed and chicken bouillon was used to cook the grits instead of plain water. 

Ingredients

3 slices of thick-cut bacon, chopped

4 cups or 946ml chicken bouillon

1 cup or 180g 5-minute quick grits

1/4 teaspoon cayenne, plus a sprinkle for topping

1/4 cup or 56g unsalted butter, plus extra for the greasing the pan

8 oz or 227g extra sharp cheddar, grated,

4 egg yolks

¼ or 60ml cold milk

4 egg whites, at room temperature

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 2-quart casserole dish by greasing it. 

In a frying pan, fry the chopped bacon until lightly brown. Drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Bring the bouillon to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan; add grits gradually, stirring with a wire whisk so that they don’t form clumps. 

Reduce heat and continue cooking, stirring vigorously, until mixture thickens.

Cover and simmer for until all liquid is absorbed—about 5-7 minutes,

Remove from heat and add in the cayenne, Worcestershire sauce and butter. Stir till butter has melted. 

Add in the bacon and about 3/4 of cheese, reserving the last 1/4 for topping. 

Stir until well blended.

In a measuring cup, blend the egg yolks with the milk. Pour mixture into grits and mix thoroughly.

In a clean, dry bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold one scoop of the grits into the egg whites. 

Then carefully fold all of the egg whites into the grits.

Pour the mixture into prepared baking dish. 

Sprinkle with the reserved cheese and a dash of cayenne.

Bake on middle shelf of preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until fluffy and golden. 

Enjoy! 

Check out the Sunday FunDay recipes and inspiring women we are sharing! 

• Basil-Dressed Chicken Salad with Tomatoes from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Drumstick Curry in Coconut Sauce - No Onion No Garlic from Sneha’s Recipe
• Irio, Kenyan Style from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Philly Cheesesteak from Amy’s Cooking Adventures 
• Rosalynn Carter’s Baked Cheese Grits from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join. 

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