BAKED EGGS WITH HAM AND GRITS

2 cups of water

2 Tblspn.of polenta grits*

1 1/4 cup of shreddd Cheddar cheese

6 pieces of bacon, chopped

salt and pepper

1/4 Tspn. poultr seasoning

4 large eggs

*Quick-cooking grits like Quaker could also be used

Preheat the oven to 350F, and grease an 8 inch baking pan. Set aside. Using kitchen scissors cut bacon into strips, no wider than your index finger. In a medium pan, cook until crispy. In the meantime cook the grits with butter and water according to manufacturers directions. Mix 1 cup of cheese, and the bacon with a little bit of grease into the grits. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour grits mixture into a greased 8 inch square pan. Make a spoon indent a corner and place one of the cracked eggs. Repeat this in all four corners. Sprinkle poultry seasoning a top each cracked egg. Place pan in the oven, carefully! You want to avoid jostling the eggs too much causing the white to spill over the grits. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and sprinkle last 1/4 cup of cheese atop. Place back in oven until cheese melts, approximately 1-2 minutes. The yolk of the eggs will be runny.

Because the eggs are easily jostled, you can see from the photo that the white can run. Ideally, you want to keep all of the egg into the little bed you created within the grits. Also, it can be quite difficult getting each serving onto a plate because the yolks are runny. So be careful or you may end up with soupy slop on your plate!