grits and grillades

Grits and Grillades

Eater rating: 4.7 / 5  4.6666666666667
Tonight we’re eating a Louisiana favorite- grits and grillades. Grits and Grillades have been described as spiced-up beef stew, coon-ass curry, and just plain good. The grillades were garnished with green onions.

A: This has to be one of my favorite Louisiana meals, next to Gumbo.
T: ooooh, gumbo!
A: boy, it ain’t gumbo season no mo. it’s gettin hot out there.
T: it’s always gumbo season. There is no gumbo season.
A: and all this time I thought you were the one who grew up in Louisiana.
T: exactly, and that’s why I know gumbo’s great year round.
A: although cold weather definitely screams for gumbo.
T: true dat.
A: well, for anybody that doesn’t know, and who couldn’t figure out from our brief description at the top, grillades are made from beef (although traditionally veal), tomatoes, in this case- wine, and many spices like cardamom, fennel, allspice, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg… and I think that’s all I put in it. And you pretty much just stew it all together for a really long time until the meat is perfectly tender.
T: Man, these were some good grits and grillades. It’s been quite some time since we’ve had them, it seems. Anyway, they definitely had that “Bobby” taste to them- which is a good thing.
A: yeah, I think that’s all those spices. His are actually the only grillades I’ve eaten. And, let me tell ya, there was nothing like a little 4-oz portion cup of grillades every saturday morning. Particularly when I was too hung over to eat breakfast before coming to work.
T: nice.
A: hey, man, everybody else got Saturday off and partied while I had to be at work at either 5:30 or 6:30 in the morning for the last 6 months before we moved.
T: i know, I’m just messin’ with you.
A: so, what’d you think of this meal?
T: great.
A: any critiques?
T: none… how bout you?
A: no, I was pretty satisfied with it, actually. It fulfilled my urge for grillades.
T: heck yeah. I can’t really think of anything to complain about. nicely done. Mom, do you have a rating?
L: 4.8 no, 4.9/5. I thought it was delicious. I don’t think you could get better grillades anywhere.
A: you are too complimentary of me… i’m going to start thinking I can cook soon.
L: it’s true, it’s all awesome to me.
T: ok, I give it a 4.6/5. It was just good. I like the star anise and cardamom stylings that I always associate with Harvest/Bobby.
A: me too. At first I thought Bobby seasoned everything pretty much the same- fennel, cardamom, star anise- which he kind of does- but they’re really good flavors, so it definitely works for me. I give this meal a 4.5/5. Like you said, it was just good.
T: right on, sista.
A: well, I guess that about wraps it up, huh?
T: I reckon so, and let me remind our reader(s) that we take requests!!! you name it, we’ll eat it, and even give a recipe for it.
A: and as a reminder, anything you see on here and would like the recipe for that we don’t list, just shoot us an email and we’ll get the recipe back to you.

Kwaheri mabibi na mabwana!

Recipe, by Amanda
Grits and Grillades


1 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast (in 1" cubes)
flour (for dusting)
1 lg yellow onion (diced)
3 stalks celery (diced)
1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes (crushed)
1/2 bottle dry red wine
1 tbsp beef base or 1 boullion cube
3/4 cup water
1 star anise
3 cardamom pods (ground)
1 tsp ground fennel seeds
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
oil for browning beef

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place lg pot on burner over medium to medium-high heat and add oil. Season beef cubes w/ salt and pepper then dust in flour. Brown cubes of beef in batches, do not over crowd the pan. When last batch is finished, remove from pan. Turn heat down to medium-low and add onions and celery. Saute onions and celery over med-low heat until very soft and translucent (about 10 minutes, maybe more). Do not allow the onions to caramelize. When onions are soft, add all the spices to the pan, and stir for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their fragrance has been released. Turn heat up to medium and add red wine to deglaze the pan. Stir. Allow the red wine to come to a boil then add the can of tomatoes (include the juice, but be sure to crush them), and the browned beef. Add the beef base and water. Return to a boil.

If the pot is oven proof, cover with aluminum foil (or a lid), and carefully place in the oven. Cook at 250 for 3-4 hours, stirring 2 or 3 times, until beef is fork-tender. When finished cooking, taste, then season with salt and pepper as necessary. Serve over yellow corn grits and garish with sliced green onions. Bon Appetite!


1 cup yellow grits (or polenta)
2 cups whole milk
2 cups water plus extra
2 tbsp butter
salt and Pepper

Heat a pot with milk and water over medium-high heat. Stir occasionaly so the milk does not scorch. Once the liquid has come to a boil, slowly pour in the grits while continuously wisking so the grits do not stick together. Reduce to low heat once the grits have come to a boil. Stir frequently until most of the liqiud has been absorbed into the grits. Taste for consistency. If the grits are too crunchy add more water and allow to absorb. Once the grits are finished remove from heat and add butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

1 lovely person had something to say

  1. Jen says:

    Going to try this tonight with Venison. I will post afterwords to let you know how it was!