Cheesy Grits

A creamy and relatively quick and simple, this gift from the American South goes very well with eggs for a nice lunch. Not true grits since I use regular cornmeal, but adaptable in my opinion to any kind of ground dry corn you have on hand (made it polenta and it was just as good). A crisp salad with that doesn't go amiss. If there are any leftovers, there's a recipe below to make fried patties the next day.

2 cups whole milk
2 cups water
1½ tsps salt
1 cup coarse ground cornmeal
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup (2oz/58gr) butter
4oz sharp Cheddar, shredded

1. Bring the milk, water, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Gradually add the cornmeal while whisking continually. Once all the cornmeal has been incorporated, decrease the heat to low and cover. Every 3 to 4 minutes, remove the lid and beat with a wooden spoon to prevent grits from sticking or forming lumps; make sure to get into the corners. 
3. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until the mixture is creamy.
4. Remove from the heat, add the pepper and butter, and beat with a wooden spoon to combine. Once the butter is melted, gradually beat in the cheese a little at a time. Serve immediately.

NOTE: Leftover Cheese Grits Patties
Weigh or measure the quantity of grits you have to work with.
Add ⅛ of the total weight-or-measure in flour and mix thoroughly.
The dough will be very sticky. Form into patties (I take a heaping soupspoonfull and plop it in the hot pan, let it cook a bit enough to flip it over, then flatten it and cook both sides until they brown nicely) of about 80 to 100 grams.
Heat a fry pan for a couple of minutes before melting butter in it.
Fry the patties until browned on both sides.