A few years back Food & Wine recommended the stone-ground grits from Charleston Grill ($10 for 2 pounds), and I ordered them. Then I kept on ordering them. Good stone-ground grits can make a fabulous dish, and even as a northerner I loved those Charleston Grill grits. If you want to order them, the restaurant has a website, but you will have to call them to order at 843.937.9142 as there is no online shop.
Then fairly recently in Alabama, I started using an organic blue corn grits from McEwen & Sons ($7 for 2 pounds) out of Wilsonville, Alabama. They were also great and the blue color gave the grits some flair, though I couldn’t tell much difference in taste between yellow or white corn. They all seem pretty much the same to me, and it is hard to compare them to the Charleston Grill grits because I used them in different recipes.
Also in Alabama is an excellent restaurant called Highland’s Bar & Grill, and they serve a wonderful creamy grits. I don’t know what brand of grits the chef, cookbook author, and restaurateur, Frank Stitt, uses but his recipe is really good. I’ve had them a few times and they never fail. You can find his recipe here relayed via Martha Stewart. Or you can buy his cookbook, Frank Stitt’s Southern Table, at Amazon
Several cooking magazines have recommended Anson Mills out of Columbia, South Carolina. They produce heirloom grits for many restaurants worldwide, and the October Gourmet also recommends their Carolina Whole Hominy Quick Grits if you don’t want to spend the extra time preparing them. The picture above is of Anson Mills’ coarse ground yellow grits.
Of course a search of the foodie Chowhound and eGullet forums usually reveals an abundance of recipes and resources for every cooking topic under the sun — grits included. Here are some of the other recommendations from those sites on where to buy grits online. I am sure there are more sellers as they didn’t mention my two sources, but these will provide more than a good start at least. Keep in mind that shipping costs can be high, so the price per pound is only part of the bill, and sometimes the shipping is more than the cost of the product itself.
Charleston Favorites ($6 for 1 pound)
Bob’s Red Mill ($2.19 for 24 oz. bag) You can find this brand in most stores with a natural foods section.
Hoppin’ John’s ($7 for 2 pounds)
Falls Mill ($16 for 10 pounds, the minimum for mail order)
Adams Mill in Dothan, Alabama. There’s no website, so you must call 800.239.4233.
Carolina Plantation ($8 for 2 pounds)
Nora Mill Granary ($10 for 5 pounds)
Adluh ($2.50 for 1 pound)
Logan Turnpike Mill ($5.50 for 2 pounds)
Lastly, there are tons of recipes and opinons out there on how to prepare grits, and I won’t even try to enter this discussion, but on Bon Appetit’s site, they give a very basic explanation of the types of grits and also some tips that most people agree upon. You may want to check that out before delving into the very personal world of grits preparation and hundreds of recipes.
