Jimmy Red Grits with Greens, Egg, and Redeye Gravy

SERVES 4

I like to serve this with braised pork. I make the pork and freeze individual portions so I can have them at the ready when-ever. My wife often adds them to this recipe when I’m not home.

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For the grits:

One 1-liter bottle spring water

1 cup Jimmy Red Grits

1 fresh bay leaf

1 tablespoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1½ teaspoons hot sauce

For the redeye gravy:

1 teaspoon canola oil

1 ounce fatty country ham scraps, cut into ⅛-inch pieces

2 tablespoons finely diced sweet onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

½ cup pork stock

½ cup day-old brewed coffee

1 tablespoon Noma coffee shoyu or soy sauce

1 teaspoon finely chopped sage

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly cracked Bourbon smoked black peppercorns

½ pound collard greens

4 eggs

To make the grits: Combine the water and grits in a container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight. Use a fine-mesh sieve to skim off any hulls or chaff, being careful not to disturb the water too much so that the hulls don’t sink back into the grits.

Transfer the grits and the soaking water to a pressure cooker, add the bay leaf, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine. Lock on the lid, bring the cooker up to high pressure, and cook for 15 minutes. Carefully release the steam from the pressure cooker. Remove the lid, stir in the butter, lemon juice, and hot sauce, and transfer to a serving bowl.

For the gravy, combine the oil and the ham in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the fat is rendered and the ham is crisp, about 4 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook them, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes to make a roux. Slowly stir in the pork stock and coffee and, stirring frequently, bring to a simmer, about 4 minutes.

Reduce the heat to low, stir in the shoyu or soy sauce, sage, thyme, salt, and cracked pepper, cover, and keep warm.

To serve, lightly wilt the collard greens in the same pan with the heat on as low as possible. Fry the eggs sunny side up. Spoon the greens over the grits and top with one egg per serving.