Smothered Grits with Jalapeno Sausage and Bacon

Spicy Bowl of Goodness!

I would like to inform you that today's dish was  based solely on some dishware I purchased from Pier 1 Imports. Yesterday my goal was to purchase dishes for Asian food.

I love Asian food, and I wanted to have dishes dedicated to the cause. I found all these cute unique dishes with pure Asian flare.

But as we all know, I can't just stick to cooking one type of food. Which meant these dishes must serve more than one purpose.

I stared at my beautiful new dishes all night, yep, all night people, finally I decided that I know for sure, some good ole' Creole Grits would look super cute in the middle of the bowl, minus the chopsticks.

It's time to start cooking!

After frying some nice crispy bacon, I added some sausage to the reserved bacon grease, browned those up for a few minutes and added an abundance of fresh veggies. 

Next we started on some grits. Yes, it says quick cook and NO, it's not even remotely possible to cook good grits in 5 minutes. Add around 15 to 20 minutes on that time for nice creamy grits.

I told you, look at what we have here. And people, please taste the grits as they cook, they should not be "gritty." You're looking for a nice creamy bite.

Place the hot cheesy grits in the middle of the new beautiful bowls, and smother them with sausage, cooked veggies, and loads of bacon.

I have my fork ready, and it's time to dig in!

Smothered Grits with Jalapeno Sausage and Bacon

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb. smoked jalapeno sausage, sliced into 1/2 inch on the diagonal
1 pack of thick cut bacon, diced
1 tsp. creole seasoning
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 fresh jalapeno (seeded), diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup diced green onions
extra virgin olive oil
cooked grits (recipe below)

For the Grits

1 c. grits
1 stick butter
1 c. heavy cream
2 c. chicken broth
1 c. water
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. creole seasoning
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 c. jack cheese, grated
1/2 c. sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Add a couple of tablespoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. Add diced bacon and fry until crispy. Drain bacon, reserve a couple of tablespoonfuls of bacon grease.

Add sliced sausage to pan and cook for about 7 minutes until sausage is browned nicely. Add all vegetables and seasonings to pan except garlic.

Cook for about 5 minutes, add garlic, cook for a couple of minutes more.   Serve over grits. Topped with bacon.

To prepare grits, in a large pot bring all liquids to boil, add butter and seasonings. Slowly stir in grits while whisking nonstop for about two minutes.

Reduce heat to low and cook grits, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. Adding extra broth as needed to keep the grits thin. Add cheese and whisk well, add more broth if needed and eat up!