Gettin' Down to the Nitty Gritty

Growing up the son of a southern momma, I know a thing or two about southern cooking.

In this edition of Andre Taylor's Tasty Tidbits, I will share one of my all-time favorite dishes with you all. You can eat fish and grits for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Trust me, I have had it for all three meals!

Some people may turn their nose up at the mere mention of fish and grits together, but I am here to tell you: "Don't knock it until you try it!" Today, I am going to show you an alternative to deep-frying your fish that won't take away from the taste.

Here is what you will need:

• 3 pieces of Tilapia
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 teaspoons of season salt
• 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons of onion powder
• 2 teaspoons of black pepper
• ¼ pound of sharp white cheddar cheese
• ½ cup of grits
• 1 tablespoon of sea salt

Now that you have these ingredients, let's get to cookin'!

Crank your oven up to 300 degrees and start preparing to bake your fish.

Rub each piece of the tilapia with olive oil until each piece is evenly covered on the top and bottom. Then, sprinkle the season salt, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper onto each piece of tilapia.

Once you have oiled and seasoned each piece of tilapia, place them into a small casserole pan. Place the uncovered pan into the oven and bake it for 20 minutes.

While your fish is baking, in a small pot, boil a cup-and-a-half of water on the stovetop and add the sea salt to the water. Once the water begins to boil, add your grits and constantly stir for five minutes.

Let the grits cook for five minutes before adding the cheese to the pot and turning the flame under the pot down to low. Stir the cheese into the grits until it is evenly melted into the grits.

Once the grits and fish are done, serve them up on a plate together and wash it down with a good ole' cup of lemonade!

If you try this recipe, take a picture and e-mail me at andre.taylor@patch.com and let me know how it turned out. If you have another recipe you want to share with me, feel free to send that along.

Until then, keep on burnin'!