Happy food fun to you!

This week was a mix of standards,  and a new adventure with shrimp.

A family favorite of ours is tater tot casserole.  I generally cook it in the crock pot, one it is easy, and two the flavors seem to mix well.  Although, this week I had a different plan for the ground beef and as I started to get dinner ingredients out I changed my mind to making this casserole.  Since there wasn’t enough time for the crock pot, I went to the next best thing, cooking in the cast iron skillet.  I must admit it is really good this way, heated the pan with lard and browned the tater tots to a nice crisp all around. Added cooked ground beef, sauce (cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, garlic herbs and spices) and baked it.  Once warmed added the cheese to melt.

Breakfast omelet with a twist.

I admit it, I like tater tots in my omelets.  Mixed up with fresh herbs and tomatoes from the garden topped with fresh local goat cheese.   My way to start the day.

Summer lunch time joy!  BLT.

I crave this sandwich all spring and early summer.   Watching the tomato plants grow and bloom, and anxiously await the first one to ripen.

Sometimes it is just an easy snack.

Jiffy blueberry muffins covered in honey butter.

This week marked the official start of Fall.

So, for Sunday brunch I made a hearty batch of biscuits and gravy with ham and cheese scrambled eggs.

My Food Fun Finale For The Week – Shrimp and Grits

There are so many options when it comes to shrimp and grits, different additions here and there, spicy or not, sauce or not.   I took the main recipe from Food Network Kitchen, Lemon-Garlic Shrimp and Grits. My additions were more like an etouffee recipe.

Generally the Trinity in Cajun cooking is onion, celery and bell pepper.  Since I had no bell pepper I used fresh anaheim and sweet bell pepper from the garden.

The beauty of caramelizing onions, toasted rings of extra flavor.

The main ingredient, shrimp.

The shrimp can be fresh or frozen, I used frozen this week.  Since they are already cooked make sure not to overcook them in the skillet.  If you don’t want much sauce then you will want to warm them in a separate skillet then drain off the excess liquid.  Next, start your mixture of garlic, butter, onion, celery and peppers.  I don’t mind the extra liquid since my family doesn’t like eating chopped onions, peppers, and celery.  I had to have them in the dish for the flavor, so, my trick is to  purée them once they are cooked.   I used the extra liquid from the shrimp in the blender and added the cooked veggies with the lemon juice and made a very nice sauce.  Heated it up with the shrimp then poured it over the grits.

Enjoy the fun of food!