Grits are the hard part of the corn kernel (the endosperm), cut into uniform small pieces. They are related to polenta, which is made from a different type of corn and is usually a finer grind. Another related product, farina, known in the U.S. as cream of wheat, is made from semolina flour.

For the record, corn is classified by the type of starch in its kernels. Dent corn, the premier corn in the South, has a relatively soft, starchy center that makes the best grits. Flint corn, used for polenta, has a hard, starchy endosperm and produces a more granular cornmeal with a better texture (mouthfeel).

Learn all about grits and get the recipe for creamy cheese grits.

If someone asks what to serve on St. Patrick’s Day, the answer will most likely be “corned beef and cabbage.”

Corning means curing or pickling the meat in a seasoned brine. The word refers to the “corns” or grains of kosher (or other coarse) salt that are mixed with water to make the brine. Typically, corned beef is made from brisket. The dish has many regional variations and seasonings.

Historical note: Irish immigrants adapted corned beef from their Jewish neighbors on New York’s Lower East Side as a cheaper alternative to Irish bacon. This led to the development of corned beef and cabbage, the now-traditional Irish-American dish. Smoking a corned beef, and adding extra spices, produces pastrami.

Also try this Potato, Cabbage & Cheddar Casserole.

Grate bittersweet chocolate over red sauces: barbecue and pasta dishes, for example (hold the grated cheese). Beyond grating, chocolate provides richness in savory recipes: chocolate with meat and chocolate with chicken, for example.

Savory chocolate dishes go back a long way. Mole (pronounced MOE-leh) poblano, perhaps the most famous dish in Mexico, was created in the 16th century in Puebla, by nuns in the Convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla de los Angeles. The sauce has some 20 ingredients, including chocolate.

You can include chocolate in every meal. We’ve attended a few such dinners, and have salivated upon reading reports of others. Ideas include:

 
Find a wealth of cooking-with-chocolate recipes at AllChocolate.com.

Try these recipes for:

 
And check out the book, The Essence Of Chocolate: Cooking And Baking With Fine Chocolate, by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg, founders of Scharffenberger Chocolate. Read our review of the book.
  

Melon liqueur creates a cocktail as green
as the Emerald Isle. Photo courtesy
Hornitos tequila.

The Shamrocker cocktail, created by Hornitos tequila, is fun, fruity and as green as the Emerald Isle.

 
COCKTAIL RECIPE: THE SHAMROCKER

Ingredients Per Drink

Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass.

2. GARNISH with an orange slice—or go edgy with shamrock-shaped microgreens.

Find more of our favorite cocktail recipes.

Given the ornate designs, the last thing you want is for cake to stick to the pan.

Instead of an oil spray to prevent sticking, try this technique, which uses bread crumbs to create a barrier between the cake and the pan: