Low-Country Boil

As we pull our communities’ social calendars out of mothballs, maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit. Move away from community-wide parties keyed solely to holidays and just have a summer weekend party that won’t conflict with residents’ busy holiday schedules. And while you’re at it, refresh the menu as well. Out with the hotdogs and hamburgers so you can bring it up a notch with a low-country boil.

Now, you may know this dish by any of several names – 'frogmore stew' is one of the more colorful ones. But whatever you call it, it’s a one-pot crowd-pleasing dish that isn’t fussy to fix and that practically begs for an outdoor setting.

It’s so simple there almost isn’t a recipe. Just adjust quantities to the size of your crowd to whatever amount seems the appropriate serving size to you. It’s important to add the ingredients in the proper order so that they cook completely and to season things properly.

Recipe (per person):
½ corn cob (fresh or frozen)
2 red potatoes
½ lb shrimp or crawfish
1 hot sausage/kielbasa link
Old Bay seasoning

Instructions:
1. Fire up a propane-fueled boiler set-up to cook for a crowd. Fill it partway with water and add a seafood or crab boil – we use Old Bay, but brands vary by region.

2. Slice some hot sausage or kielbasa into two- to three-inch segments and toss it in the boiling, spiced water.

3. About 10 minutes later, add small red-skinned potatoes.

4. About 10 minutes later (depending on the size of the potatoes) add corn.

5. About five minutes after you add the corn, the last ingredient is shrimp and/or crawfish – head-on, deveined shrimp with shells on. But before you add them, test with a fork to make sure your potatoes are almost done because shrimp cooks quickly and it’s the last addition. Look for the pink color change after anywhere from two to five minutes.

6. At this point, it’s important to get everything out of the water quickly to prevent that shrimp or crawfish from getting rubbery and overdone. The classic method is to dump the whole pot onto a newspaper-covered picnic table (at least a two-man job), but if you are worried about the health of your grass, a strainer basket works just as well. Provide serving tongs so folks can pile their plates with their favorite parts. Have cocktail sauce on hand for the shrimp, along with quartered lemons, and then add butter for the corn or potatoes if you like. One batch might not feed everyone, but that’s OK – fire up another round or more.

A low-country boil is a dish that can stand alone, but if you are a completist, all it takes is rolls and store-bought coleslaw. For dessert, consider rounding up a collection of ice cream makers and cranking out homemade peach ice cream.

Enjoy! And welcome back to those community-building special events!