Camp Catfish and Cheesy Grits
Instant grits gone cheesy and garlicky, with canned fish and hard sausage stirred through.
- calories
- 880
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 126
- protein
- 45 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 13 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Canoe / raft
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Instant grits | 2/3 cup | quick or instant, not stone ground |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered cheddar cheese | 3 tbsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 2 tbsp | stands in for the half and half |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 tsp | |
| Canned catfish or other firm white fish | 1 pouch, 3 oz | foil pouch drains cleaner than a can |
| Hard smoked sausage | 2 oz | summer sausage or dry andouille, sliced thin |
| Butter powder or olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| All-purpose seasoning | 1 tsp | Everglades or any salty Cajun blend |
| Worcestershire powder | 1/2 tsp | or a few drops from a dropper bottle |
| Hot sauce | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | cut it if the bouillon is already salty |
Method
- Slice the sausage and brown it dry in the pot for two minutes. The fat it renders is your cooking oil.
- Push the sausage to one side, add 400 ml of water, and bring it to a boil.
- Rain in the grits while stirring so they do not clump. Drop the heat to the lowest flame that still simmers and cook five minutes, stirring often.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the cheese powder, milk powder, garlic powder, bouillon, seasoning, Worcestershire, and butter powder or oil.
- Fold in the fish last so it stays in pieces. Add hot sauce, then let it sit two minutes covered before eating.
Shrimp and grits with catfish instead is a skillet dish with a roux, a fridge, and half a dozen fresh vegetables. None of that travels. What actually carries the dish is the grits, the cheese, the garlic, and something smoky and salty in it. Instant grits thicken on their own, so the flour roux comes out and the powdered cheese and milk do the creaming.
Browning the sausage first is the one step worth the extra two minutes. Rendered fat coats the grits and keeps them from tasting like wet cornmeal, and it seasons the pot before the water goes in. Add the fish off the heat or you will stir it into paste.
Packing
Grits, cheese powder, milk powder, and all the dry seasonings go in one bag. Sausage and fish pouch pack separately. Hot sauce rides in a dropper bottle.
Variations
- Swap the fish pouch for a chicken pouch and skip the Worcestershire.
- A handful of dried bell pepper and onion flakes, added with the water, gets you close to the trinity in the original.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/creamy-catfish-and-sausage-over-cheesy-garlic-grits