I know that the feelings and images associated with these three foods are quite different.
Grits will always be inherently Southern. To me, grits are made from hominy, and usually served as a breakfast food, although that may have more to do with Waffle House than how people actually eat grits at home. In any case, they are best served with bacon or sausage.
Risotto seems to have a bit of a mystique. Growing up in the Tennessee, I never heard of risotto until I was in college, and then it seemed to be more or less an indulgent European food, made with cream or cheese, broth, wine...it seemed awfully complicated. Arborio rice was not an ingredient I had ever heard of before. Rice was rice to me. It came as brown and white. You can see why I put off learning to make risotto for many years, although I still ate it at restaurants on occasion.
Polenta is made from ground cornmeal, similar to grits. I first had polenta at camp, served sliced and fried, with stew over the top. It was delicious. It was a few years later that I learned this is apparently not the standard method of serving polenta. I have yet to make home-made polenta that will stand up to being sliced and fried, but I have made excellent creamy polenta several times.
So what makes them seem the same in my mind? Cooking them from scratch. All three of them are basic, starchy ingredients that you cook until they essentially turn into a creamy goo. All three dishes work as a side dish or a main dish, depending on what you add. None of them require a recipe, in my opinion. I think all three dishes are best when made with general guidelines, from whatever ingredients you already have around the house (assuming you keep some veggies fresh or frozen). All three suffice as a medium when I crave good, expensive cheese. They are all easier to make in a thick-bottomed pan, so they don't burn on the bottom. Most importantly, they all require a bit of patience as you stand at the stove and stir as the liquid is absorbed.
I'm including a basic list of instructions for grits. I recommend this NPR article for information about risotto and Alton Brown's recipe for polenta.
Basic Grits recipe:
(Some) hominy grits
Water (2-4 times as much as you have grits)
Butter (a tablespoon or two)
Salt (to taste)
Basic Grits recipe:
(Some) hominy grits
Water (2-4 times as much as you have grits)
Butter (a tablespoon or two)
Salt (to taste)
Cheese, if desired
Other spices, as you like
Put grits and about 2/3 the water in a thick-bottomed pot or pan. Heat until slightly boiling, then reduce heat to simmer, so that every once in a while a bubble comes up. Too much heat and you can splatter grits all over the stove while simultaneously permanently adhering them to the bottom of your pot. Cook, stirring almost constantly, as grits absorb the liquid. Add more liquid when you see that the grits are starting to thicken from absorbing water. I use this method, adding water as necessary, because it seems to work better for me than pre-measuring water and grits, like the package describes. Premeasuring can fail because you can lose too much water to steam, ending up with grits that look "done" because all the water is gone, but the grits themselves are not cooked enough. Premeasuring can also fail if you don't lose enough water to steam, in which case you end up with grits soup. In my case, premeasuring usually fails due to a combination of poor counting skills and the addition of other ingredients, such as mushrooms, greens, etc.
In my opinion, the best way to tell if grits are done is to take a bite (careful, it is hot!). They should be creamy, with no "gritty" parts that crunch or stick between your teeth when you bite down. You should still be able to distinguish the separate kernels, just a bit. Once the grits are cooked, you can decide how thick or soupy you want them. Just add more water or simmer some water off. Add the butter and cheese towards the end, stir thoroughly.
Other spices, as you like
Put grits and about 2/3 the water in a thick-bottomed pot or pan. Heat until slightly boiling, then reduce heat to simmer, so that every once in a while a bubble comes up. Too much heat and you can splatter grits all over the stove while simultaneously permanently adhering them to the bottom of your pot. Cook, stirring almost constantly, as grits absorb the liquid. Add more liquid when you see that the grits are starting to thicken from absorbing water. I use this method, adding water as necessary, because it seems to work better for me than pre-measuring water and grits, like the package describes. Premeasuring can fail because you can lose too much water to steam, ending up with grits that look "done" because all the water is gone, but the grits themselves are not cooked enough. Premeasuring can also fail if you don't lose enough water to steam, in which case you end up with grits soup. In my case, premeasuring usually fails due to a combination of poor counting skills and the addition of other ingredients, such as mushrooms, greens, etc.
In my opinion, the best way to tell if grits are done is to take a bite (careful, it is hot!). They should be creamy, with no "gritty" parts that crunch or stick between your teeth when you bite down. You should still be able to distinguish the separate kernels, just a bit. Once the grits are cooked, you can decide how thick or soupy you want them. Just add more water or simmer some water off. Add the butter and cheese towards the end, stir thoroughly.
