Snacking State-by-State: Mashup 11 - Maple Apple & Pork Ribs and Grits

This recipe was originally going to throw together apples from South Dakota, grits from South Carolina, buttermilk and Memphis barbecue from Tennessee and linguiça from Rhode Island.  Then that massive derecho hit in late June.  I rescued some of my food from my electricity-free apartment - absconding with some stuff to my mother's house and her freezer.  But not everything survived, and so I lost those delicious Portuguese sausages.  To make the following recipe, add an equal amount of linguiça as barbecue, and adjust the amount of liquids and grits respectively.  Adding linguiça will up the serving amount to about 3 to 6.

Also note: while I sometimes consult similar recipes to get an idea on how to make something, this is the first recipe where I actually use someone else's recipe.  For the buttermilk grits, please refer to the recipe at the Running with Tweezers blog for chipotle greens and buttermilk grits [Hardeman 2011].  I follow the author's buttermilk grits recipe almost exactly, halving her recipe and adding only maple syrup to taste.

Mashup recipe: Maple Apple & Pork Ribs and Grits

Makes 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients (state or territorial flag indicates State-by-State post where ingredient was featured. Ingredients with no flag were not specifically used for any one post.)

For the grits (based on Tami Hardeman's buttermilk grits recipe from her Running with Tweezers blog, 2011):

1/2 cup stone ground grits

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup maple syrup or to taste

1 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

1 T butter

For the topping: 

1 1/2 medium chopped sliced apples (peeled and cored)

meat from 3 to 4 Memphis pork barbecue ribs 

(NB: you can also use one linguiça sausage, sliced, in addition or instead)

1/4 cup buttermilk

dash lemon juice

dash Tabasco sauce

dash paprika

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup (or more to taste)

1 shallot, sliced thinly

salt and pepper to taste

2 T butter

Start by boiling the water and buttermilk in a pot.

Bring to a boil, then add grits and salt and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat.

While those grits are cooking, de-flesh the barbecue ribs.

In a skillet, stir-fry the rubs, apples and shallot in butter for about five minutes.

Add the buttermilk...

...and maple syrup, and continue to cook.

Add the rest of ingredients to taste, and cook for five to ten more minutes over low-medium heat (or until the grits are done).

Make sure you stir the grits occasionally while you cook the pork and apples. Continue cooking for another 15 minutes.

In the last five minutes of cooking the grits, add the maple syrup (I also added brown sugar but found that unnecessary in the end).  Serve with pork and apples.

This is one of my more successful recipes.  I like the addition of the maple syrup to the sour buttermilk grits.  This is an even nicer contrast with the sweet pork and apples.  Overall a good recipe.