Eat This Now: Grits

The first time chef Alison Barshak drove to the World Grits Festival in St. George, South Carolina, she returned to her Blue Bell BYOB with 150 pounds of coarse organic hominy grits. The next year, she trucked 200 pounds more than 600 miles. And this year, she loaded her car with 300 pounds of the fresh-ground corn. “I like grits better than other starches, like polenta,” Barshak says. “They have more personality and more rustic corn flavor.” The classic Southern recipe may be equal parts milk-boiled grits and salty butter, but Barshak pairs the sunny starch with black truffle butter to create earthy, oversized fried croutons that soak up the garlicky broth beneath her steamed clams.

Alison at Blue Bell, 721 Skippack Pike, Blue Bell, 215-641-2660; alisonatbluebell.com.