Foodie Friday: Spam, The Good Kind

Spam…it’s not often thought of as a good thing…either in email or culinary terms.

This week, I (gulp) knowingly and willingly fed Spam to my family.

I know what you are thinking.

Well, maybe I don’t. And perhaps I don’t REALLY want to know what you are thinking…because it may have to do with my sanity and such.

I assure you that I am completely (ok, mostly) within my right mind. Keep that in mind when I say the following: It.was.good.

Now, I did not simply make fried Spam sandwiches. I took it up a notch.

If you follow me on Facebook, you may recall that I posted something about grating Spam for a casserole.

If you don’t follow me on Facebook, you are REALLY missing out on something special, I assure you. (Can I get an “Amen”? Probably not…don’t answer that for the sake of my pride, please.)

So yes, there you have it. I made a casserole that utilized Spam. But not just that…I had other parameters for my casserole.

In my continued attempts to “purge my pantry” and use up some things that have been hanging out in there for far too long, I did a Google search to find a recipe which included (but was not limited to): Spam, grits and diced tomatoes. Also I had some eggs which needed to be used as well (but they were clearly NOT in the pantry…you certainly understand).

Well, difficult though it may be to imagine, I had some trouble finding a recipe which used all those ingredients. But I did find a few recipes which used SOME of the ingredients.

So what does any clever (and frugal…one must not forget the frugal) person do when in such a predicament? They roll the recipes all together into one.

Now…I did not completely throw caution to the wind. I did use some judgment. I did read reviews which other chefs (I use the term loosely when referring to yours truly) posted. And adjusted my ingredients accordingly.

For instance (lest you be curious) I thought a dozen eggs seemed like a LOT, and the comments I read echoed that same sentiment. So instead I just used 8…it seemed to be the “magic number” which others used for their versions.

So…all this rambling aside, I am certain that your curiosity is peaked and you cannot wait to see what this concoction is all about.

Now, without further ado (start the drumroll in your head, please…it’s really worth it), I give you:

Spam, Grits & Egg Casserole

Ingredients

• 6 cups water
• 2 cups quick-cooking grits
• ¼ cup butter
• 3 cups cheddar cheese
• 1 can Spam, grated (yes, with a cheese grater)
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained as best you can
• 8 eggs
• ¼ cup milk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan.
• Boil water and stir in grits; reduce the heat and cover to simmer for approximately 5 minutes (be sure to stir at least a couple times during the cook time). Remove from heat.
• Stir butter and 2 cups of cheese into grits and set aside.
• Heat a large skillet and sprinkle in the Spam. Cook on medium-high until it’s browned; pour off any excess grease.
• Mix Spam into grits and add the tomatoes.
• Beat eggs together with milk and lightly scramble in same pan used to cook Spam.
• Then mix eggs into grits and pour into prepared pan.
• Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top and bake for 30 minutes.

One other thing I would like to mention: this made enough for all of us to eat two meals. We LOVE leftovers but I know that’s not for everyone. If you don’t want to have leftovers and are a family of 4-ish, I would recommend making an 8x8 and halving the recipe. But I do want to say that we all thought the leftovers were better than when it first came out of the oven.

So there’s some food for thought (and yes, pun totally intended).

Follow me on Facebook!