A sheet pan meal of fish, shrimp and smoked sausage with broccoli and potatoes.

Sheet Pan Seafood Dinner

A few years back, sheet pan dinners were all the rage.

I never quite got into them to be honest, mainly because with a mix of proteins and different varieties of vegetables, cooking stages are often involved in order to cook everything evenly and not overcook others.

Flour tortillas filled with pan-seared seasoned Gulf shrimp, sauteed green onion and cheese, folded and browned in butter.

Shrimp Quesadilla

Quesadillas are good anytime, even for breakfast, and they are the perfect summer meal because they are not heavy, they're quick and easy to make, filling versatile and they just taste great!

Serve them up with salsa and a side of fruit like summer peaches and you've got a great meal.

I keep flour tortillas and shredded cheese on hand all of the time so I make them often, with various meats and cheese, or even with just plain cheese, and in this case, I decided to go with some Gulf shrimp.

Raw shrimp, preferably Wild-caught American, peeled and deveined, passed through a milk and egg mixture, then into a seasoned cracker meal dredge and deep fried to golden brown delicious!

Cracker Meal Deep Fried Shrimp

Growing up, my Mama did not use flour on her fried seafood. She used boxed cracker meal.

If I had to guess, I'd say that once I started cooking for myself, I ventured away from using it because it can be a bit pricey and these days, even hard to find, but flour? Well, I always have that on hand.

I do prefer to use self-rising flour because it contains baking powder, which contains cornstarch, and seems to me to give a more crisp and crunchy texture than plain all-purpose flour does.

I know some folks have disagreed with me, and that's okay, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it y'all!

Fresh Gulf shrimp, marinated in milk, egg and hot sauce, then tossed in a well-seasoned hushpuppy dredge and deep fried to perfection.

Hushpuppy Breaded Fried Shrimp

Some years back, Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen, which by the way makes the most delicious fried chicken evah, introduced seafood to the menu in some areas. Some menu items were offered only on a limited time basis. Hushpuppy Fried Shrimp was one of those.

I was intrigued.

So, for research purposes, I requested that my husband aka here as "The Cajun" swing in and pick up a small order of them on his way home for us to try.

A quick skillet meal of shrimp and smoked sausage with wide egg noodles in a creamy sauce.

Creamy Cajun Shrimp and Sausage with Noodles

We are so blessed with fresh seafood and Gulf shrimp is available year round, very often fresh off the boat which is my preferred method of purchase. 

I'm always fooling around with different shrimp and pasta combinations to try different things and this is one of those instances. As a recipe writer and owner of a food-related website, there's a lot of experimenting and often it takes multiple tries to get a recipe just right.

At least that's my philosophy as a food blogger, because one thing I can guarantee and that is when a recipe appears on my website, it has been well-tested to meet my approval.

Shrimp and Sausage cooked in a spicy tomato, roux and trinity enhanced sauce, and served on a bed of Garlic Cheese Grits.

Gulf Coast Shrimp and Grits

Grits are a southern dish for sure, and though classic Shrimp and Grits is more of a Lowcountry Southern dish, than it is a Deep South Coastal dish - don't y'all know we sure took it up down here too!

Grits are a perfect southern side dish with eggs for breakfast no doubt, but we certainly bring them out of pantry for other meals down here too. Eggs in Purgatory makes a perfectly good dish for brunch or even for supper, as does Grits and Grillades and here, Shrimp and Grits.