Pork Grillades

Here is my family's recipe. Enjoy.

GRILLADES INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs of thinly sliced pork
Salt
2 Tbsp. of Creole seasoning
A few Tbsp. of Flour to coat the meat
A few Tablespoons Oil
3 Tablespoons Butter
1 Large onion
1 Red Bell Pepper
2 Ribs Celery
2 Cloves roughly chopped Garlic
1 quarts Beef or Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp of Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
8oz Tomato puree
2 Bay Leaves
Hot Sauce to taste
1 Tablespoon Corn Starch
Salt & Pepper to taste

GRITS INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Uncooked Stone-ground yellow grits
4 Cups Heavy cream
4 Cups Chicken Stock

COOK THE GRILLADES:
1. Pound the pork on both sides to about 1/4 inch thickness then cut into 4 inch squares. Season the grillades with the salt & Cajun seasoning. Dip the grillades one at a time into the flour and shake off any excess. In a cast iron dutch oven or similar, heat the oil over medium heat until very hot, but not smoking. Brown the grillades well on both sides without burning. Transfer the grillades to a plate. NOTE: ** You do not need to brown all of the meat since that takes a long time. The more fond you develop the better but the dish comes out great even if you only brown a batch or two. Just make sure that you end up with a layer of brown bits covering most of the bottom of the pot.
2. Drain off the excess oil and melt the butter over medium heat. Add the Onions, Bell Pepper, Celery, Garlic and 2 tbsp. Creole seasoning, stirring frequently. Cook until the vegetables are soft. Stir in the stock, soy sauce, Worcestershire, Tomato puree, and bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low.
3. Return the grillades and the accumulated juice from the plate back to the pot. Submerge the grillades in the sauce and simmer for about 1 ½ hours or until they're very tender. To simmer, you can either put the Dutch oven in a 325 degree oven or leave it on the stove over low-heat.
4. When the grillades are tender remove them to a plate and bring the sauce to a boil. Add the corn starch mixture and whisk until the sauce is slightly thickened. If you like a thicker sauce, double the cornstarch/water mixture. Stir in the hot sauce (to taste) and adjust salt & pepper. Place grillades back into the sauce.

COOK THE GRITS:
1. Pour the heavy cream and chicken stock into a pot. Heat until the liquid comes to a boil. Add dry grits and cover the pot. Stir the grits every two minutes or so until the grits are cooked, about 20 minutes. Adjust salt, if needed, and add 1/2 cup of water or stock if the grits are thicker than you like.

SERVE:
Portion approximately 1/2 cup of grillades/sauce on top of 1 cup of cooked grits per bowl. Serve immediately. Sliced green onions make a nice garnish.

Makes 10 servings.

Are you talking about the grillades that you would serve over grits or the bayou version that is slices of pork shoulder slathered with mustard and seasonings and grilled?

For the first kind, there's no better recipe than the one in the recipe collection from the Plantation Cookbook:

Plantation Cookbook Grillades

4 lbs beef/veal rounds, ½ inch thick
1/2 cup bacon grease
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped onions
2 cups chopped green onions
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 ½ cups chopped green peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp tarragon (optional)
2/3 tsp thyme
1 cup water
1 cup red wine
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp Tabasco
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbs chopped parsley

Remove fat from meat. Cut meat into serving-size pieces. Pound to ¼ inch thick. In a Dutch oven, brown meat well in 4 tablespoons bacon grease. As meat browns, move to warm plate.

To Dutch oven add 4 tablespoons bacon grease and flour. Stir and cook to make a dark brown roux. Add onions, green onions, celery, green pepper, garlic, and sauté until limp.

Add tomatoes, tarragon, thyme, and cook for 3 minutes. Add water and wine. Stir well for several minutes; return meat; add salt, pepper, bay leaves, Tabasco, and Worcestershire. Lower heat, stir, and continue cooking.

If veal rounds are used, simmer covered approximately 1 hour. If been rounds are used, simmer covered approximately 2 hours.

Remove bay leaves. Stir in parsley, cool, let the grillades sit several hours or overnight in refrigerator. More liquid may be added. Grillades should be very tender. Serve over grits.

Source: Stadium Rat


For the second kind, here is OTIS2's grillades recipe mentioned above (also in the collection):


Down the Bayou Pork Grillades

Not the type of grillades smothered in a red gravy and served over grits. I'm talking about the ones from down the bayou - thin sliced pork, grilled and dipped in a thin; I'm guessing Worcestershire based, sauce.

3 lbs pork, loin or trimmed butt
5 Tbs white vinegar
2 to 3 Tbs mustard, yellow or good brown
1 tsp or more garlic powder
A healthy mix of salt, red and black pepper, or your favorite Creole seasoning

Cut the meat into 1 inch by 3 inch strips. Mix well with all seasonings. Cover and refrigerate for a few days to a week. Then cook as you wish.

Source: OTIS2

The sauce we always basted with was a mixture of Heinz 57, Italian dressing and maybe hot sauce/W sauce.

quote:

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The sauce we always basted with was a mixture of Heinz 57, Italian dressing and maybe hot sauce/W sauce.

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this is absolutely the DTB way of saucing grillades.....

The Real Question When it Comes to Grillades:

Are they better at the Cut Off Fair or the French Food Fest?

French food. Mainly because I used to help out in that booth with the gratons. The usual suspects gave up the booth after 2023 and I think the quality lacked in 2024.

I'll take my grillades grilled and sauced on a piece of french bread any day over cooked and smothered in a gravy.

Around here when people turn a pig they make pig sauce to baste and eat it with. Its 1 part A1, Heinz 57 and Italian Dressing.