All A-Boil
In my Notes from the Beach earlier this week, I mentioned making a seafood boil. In this case, it was a shrimp boil, with superfresh local shrimp at the coast.
Boy, was it good.
I wrote about this in the Winston-Salem Journal last year. A shrimp or seafood boil has become a tradition of my family beach vacations.
You may know this dish as Frogmore stew. Basically, it’s seafood, potatoes, corn and sausage boiled all in one pot. It’s messy finger-eating food best suited to outdoor eating, but it’s a fine summer feast if there ever was one.
I complicate the dish a bit, in that I like to make a shrimp broth before I actually start cooking the main ingredients. I do this whenever I have head-on shrimp, as I did last week, because the shrimp heads contain a wealth of flavor.
A good rule of thumb is that 1 gallon of water, 4 tablespoons of seasoning, 1 to 2 pounds of smoked sausage, 8 to 12 new potatoes, 6 ears of corn and 2 pounds of shrimp will feed four people.
Here’s how I make it.
Michael’s Shrimp Boil
1 gallon water
2 large onions, cut into wedges
4 tablespoons Old Bay or similar seasoning
Heads from 2 pounds shrimp
2 tablespoons salt
8 to 12 medium red potatoes, scrubbed
1 to 2 pounds smoked sausage, cut into large chunks, 2 to 3 inches long
6 ears fresh corn, shucked and cut in half
2 pounds unpeeled large shrimp
1. Bring water, onions, seasoning salt and shrimp heads to a soft boil in a large stockpot. Reduce the heat and gently simmer 30 minutes.
2. Strain the broth, discarding the solids and return broth to pot. (If shrimp heads are not available, simply combine water, onions, seasoning and salt in a large pot.)
3. Bring liquid in pot to a boil. Add potatoes and sausage. Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, or until potatoes are just barely fork tender.
4. Add corn and simmer 2 minutes.
5. Add shrimp, turn off heat and let pot sit about 5 minutes, or just until shrimp have turned color.
6. Drain the pot, discarding the liquid. Place the strained contents on a platter and serve with plenty of butter and paper towels.
Makes 4 generous servings.
(Photo courtesy of Old Bay)
