Add the water and salt to a 2 quart sauce pan. Cover and bring to a boil.
Slowly whisk in the grits. Reduce heat to low and cover. Whisk or stir every 1 minute for 5 minutes.
Once the grits have thickened (about 5 minutes), stir in the chile. Cook for another 2 minute, stirring frequently.
Add the cheese. Stir to combine. Cook another 2 - 3 until cheese has melted and grits are cooked.
If desired, top eachr bowl of grits with a fried egg.
Grits – I used to use Bob’s Red Mill Organic White Corn Grits. These make creamy grits and cook relatively fast (about 7 - 8 minutes). Quaker's also makes decent quick-cooking grits if you can't find Bob's. You could also use traditional stone-ground, long cooking grits. It's just going to take about 30 minutes.
Cheese – For these grits we really like sharp cheddar, but for a milder flavor Fontina and Monterey Jack are quite delicious. It's best to use a cheese that melts easily and thoroughly. For something completely different, use a Mexican cheese such as cotija or Queso Fresco. They don't melt very well, but do yield a unique flavor.
Chopped Roasted Red Chile – The addition of roasted red chile is to add the flavor of “roasted” chile to the grits. You could substitute the chile with roasted red bell peppers, but you'll lose the spicy chile flavor. If you don’t have roasted red chile of any kind, you could really switch it up and substitute about 1/2 cup of onion sautéed in butter until it is translucent and soft. This is pretty darn good as well!
Adjusting amounts - It's easy to make a bigger or smaller batch. Just remember that the ratio of water to grits is 4:1 (e.g., 1 cup water to 1/4 cup uncooked grits).
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen