A love letter to the Lee Bros.

If you are from the South and do not own a Lee Brothers cookbook, you might as well be a yankee.  Perhaps I'm being a bit extreme.  And as someone who has lived a third of her life above the Mason-Dixon line, I probably shouldn't be judging ones southern-ness.  But seriously, if you love southern food as much as I do, then you need to familiarize yourself with Matt and Ted.  

Like me, the Lee Brothers were born in New York.  I know, I lost half of you already.  Also like me, they moved down south as young children, ending up in Charleston, SC, the mecca of low country southern cuisine.  Their first cookbook, "The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook", tells the story of falling in love with Charleston through recipes, anecdotes from their childhood and bits of culinary history, like who really can claim Brunswick stew.  


You may be thinking $5.27 is a silly price to pay for a small bag of grits.  It's especially silly when you spill the other half of the bag all over the floor.

Both brothers moved back to New York for college.  In a city that has an Italian, Moroccan, French, Japanese, Chinese, Ethiopian and a Jewish deli on every block, there was just one thing they couldn't find - boiled peanuts.  So, they started making and selling their own.  Soon after, they founded the Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, where they sold artisan southern foods like sorghum syrup and pickled peaches to displaced southerners.  Eventually, this led to a career as food and travel journalists, and finally, cookbook authors.  

The Lee Bros. hawk legit southern food.  No Paula Dean style "let's-throw-in-another-stick-of-butter-deep-fry-it-and-call-it-southern" recipes here.  Many of the recipes have been passed down generation after generation from places all over the south - small family-run farms in Tennessee, bayou-dwellers in Louisiana, Mexican immigrants in Texas, or from another must have southern cookbook, "Charleston Receipts."  In "Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook," you'll find recipes for perfect jambalaya, baked country ham, low country boil and of course, boiled peanuts. 

What I like most about their recipes is that they aren't too stuck on finding "The Most Authentic ______."  Just the version they think tastes best.  Many of the recipes, like this one, are modernized but inspired by traditional southern foods.  The other thing I appreciate is that they dispel the myth that all southern food is unhealthy.  Although some TV chefs and restaurants would have you thinking southern means deep fried, covered in gravy and and smothered in cheese (which is sometimes correct), the south has it's roots in agriculture.  Southern food was traditionally plant-based with very little meat - think collard greens, red beans and rice, pickled veggies.  Although you won't find the Lee Bros. cookbook in the diet section of your bookstore, (at least not with that four-layer red velvet cake on page 466!), you'll find many healthy recipes and others that are easily adapted.  Cornbread and tomato salad, squash and mushroom hominy, whole roasted fish with sweet potatoes and scallions and pickled okra - all dietitian approved!

This recipe was inspired by the chiles rellenos the Lee brothers enjoyed from a random gas station cantina on Johns Island.  It catered mostly to Mexican farm workers, so the food was authentic.  As they point out, southern food and Mexican food have much in common - corn and cornmeal, squash, hot peppers.  The pairing of cheese grits and mildly spicy poblanos is perfection!

Cheese-Grits Chiles Rellenos 

Serves 4

Adapted from Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

 

 

Grits:
2 cups 2% milk
2 cups water
1 cup stone-ground grits (we used Anson Mills blue grits, which you can order here, or stop by Soda City)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 cup coarsely grated cheddar cheese (don't go low fat here - you will lose the flavor in the grits since you're only using a small amount.  Splurge on a good extra-sharp cheddar)

Chiles:
1 14-ounce can fire roasted tomatoes, drained
4 large poblano peppers
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2 large cloves of garlic, unpeeled
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar (ditto on above)

Bring the milk and water to a boil on medium-high heat in a medium saucepan.  When it comes to a boil, slowly pour in the grits and salt while stirring constantly.  According to the Lee Bros., stir until the grits "are the consistency of a thick soup and release a fragrant sweet-corn perfume, about 8 minutes."  According to me, stir until your arm starts to hurt, about 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring every 2-3 minutes, for a total of about 20 minutes until thickened and the grits "fall lazily from the end of the spoon."  Seriously, who knew you could make grits sound so poetic?  Cook about 15 more minutes, stirring constantly when you remember. 

 

When the grits are soft and creamy, turn off the heat.  Add the black pepper and cheese.  Stir until the cheese has melted into the grits.

Next, preheat the broiler to high.  Arrange the peppers, onion and garlic on a large baking sheet.  Brush the vegetables lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt.  Place in the oven about 3 inches from the heating element.  Turn the peppers about every 3 minutes until the skins are blistered and well-charred.  This took me about 12 minutes. 

Transfer the peppers to a large bowl and cover with saran wrap.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

When cool enough to handle, transfer the onions, tomato and garlic (minus the skins) into a blender.  Process into a chunky sauce.  Season with black pepper.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle, gently rub away the skins.  Cut each pepper in half and scoop away the seeds and any of the fibrous veins. Place each pepper half in a large baking dish.

Divide the cheese grits evenly between each pepper half.  Press the grits into the pepper lightly with your hands or a spoon.  Pour the tomato sauce over the peppers. 

Bake the chiles on the middle rack until the sauce is bubbly, about 15 minutes.  Sprinkle the cheese on top and place under the broiler for about 1-2 minutes until the cheese is browned.  Serve with a big leafy green salad.