Many of my undergrad days spent at College of Charleston, I would have lunch at Jack’s Cafe, a small diner right off campus in Downtown Charleston. Every Tuesday and Thursday after my classes, I would walk across campus with my huge tote bag full of books and my uniform for my waitressing job, have a seat at the counter at Jack’s, and order a bowl of kitchen sink grits before my shift at work that I had to walk across downtown to get to. It was absolutely my favorite dish they had on their menu: a bowl of grits topped with crumbled sausage and practically every vegetable they had in house topped with an optional fried egg. Perfection.

Talk about a dream for someone who was on a very tight student budget, needed something filling to get me through my shift at work, and didn’t mind all of their foods touching together. I was all for it! I’ve been feeling pretty nostalgic lately with the foods I’ve been cooking and I had some leftover grits from another dish for a recipe I was testing, so this was my way of honoring Jack’s Cafe and slightly cleaning out my fridge at the same time with my version of their kitchen sink grits.

Now, if you don’t have leftover grits, no worries! The quoted cook time would obviously be a little longer if you have to make the grits from scratch, but that’s no issue. Just follow the package instructions with your grits and you’ll be set. I prefer stone ground grits because I like nice things and I love their texture. My favorite brand right now is Southern Queen Foods, a local Black-owned grit company in Florence, South Carolina that owns their own mill and grinds the corn fresh. Honestly, THE best grits I’ve had in a very long time. I’m hooked.

I’ll be nice and share some of my self-proclaimed country pointers for newbies to the grit-cooking game: if you have the time (I do, hello pandemic), soak your grits in water the night before to soften them. I use equal parts milk (I use lactose-free) and water to cook my grits with a few tablespoons of butter. And don’t be afraid to salt your liquids. Just taste it and make sure it’s what you like. Always bring your liquid to a boil before adding the grits and when it’s time to add the grits, use a whisk to mix like hell when you’re pouring the grits into the liquid. No one wants lumpy grits, y’all! Then, turn your heat to a medium-low and whisk every few minutes making sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot and cook the grits until they're really tender and creamy.

The time varies based on what kind of grits you have soaking them overnight does help reduce the cook time. Right before serving your grits, add your fixings: more butter? Sure! Want some cheese? Fold it in. Want a little richness? Splash some heavy cream in there. Personally? I like folding in a little softened cream cheese at the end for that extra oomph. But that’s my business. Now that I gave you a solid run down on how to make a proper Southern pot of grits, let’s get cooking for the rest of the kitchen sink that’s going to go on top of them.

Kitchen Sink Grits

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 2

1/2 package smoked sausage, cut into links (I used Conecuh hickory smoked sausage)

1 pint sliced baby bella mushrooms

1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 small handful broccoli florets (frozen or fresh works fine)

2 green onions, thinly sliced

Cotija cheese, for garnish

Cooked grits, for serving

2 large eggs, fried (optional)

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage according to package directions. Once cooked, remove from the pan and once it’s cool enough to handle, cut the sauce into small pieces and set aside.

Next, in the same pan, sear mushrooms in the fat from the sausage with a little bit of olive oil if needed until crisp and golden and most of the liquid evaporated, roughly 10 minutes. Then, add the sliced onion and season with kosher salt and black pepper to your liking. Sauté the onions with the mushrooms until the onions are slightly translucent and still have some bite. Remove and set aside. Then, add the broccoli to pan and cover with lid to slightly steam and char the edges, this should take about 4-5 minutes. I used frozen this day because I was cleaning out the fridge and freezer but use fresh if you like.

To serve, fill a bowl with the cooked grits and top with sautéed mushrooms and onions, some sliced sausage, the chopped broccoli, green onion, and cheese. I didn’t put the egg on this photographed shot because I wanted to show y’all all of the veggie goodness but do what you like! Y’all know how I feel about a runny egg yolk mixing into literally anything.

¡Buen provecho!