Low Country Shrimp Boil with Homemade Old Bay

Around our house Sunday’s are usually reserved for some type of exercise and an uncomplicated get together. I really love making a big warm cozy meal like gumbo, cassoulet or beef bourguignon then call to see who can make it over. Our dinner friends bring the bread, greens, sweets and drink and we supply the main attraction; it doesn’t get easier than that!

Last week I had some gorgeous gulf prawns on hand and decided to take them back to my Virginia Beach roots with a low country shrimp boil. The dish itself has its origins from South Carolina but we Virginians adopted it with our own Chesapeake Bay bravado.

Any seafood boil is usually super easy to make so I decided to make this particular boil a bit more challenging by making a homemade version of Old Bay. I know that it may seem cumbersome to make especially if you don’t have the ingredients on hand…sooooo, one suggestion I have is to buy a heap of the ingredients, some small fancy glass jars and then make gifts for the holidays. Make a handmade label that says for seafood, chicken or veggies. Do that and you will be the twinkle of everyone’s eye.

On a closing note Dungeness crab season started yesterday. Boil, crack, and slurp.
Chef Barnacle Bill

Ps. The images of the shrimp and boat were taken in Boca Grande, Florida, where the shrimps are laid back and sweet .

Homemade “Old Bay” Spice Mix

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. ground bay leaves
2-1/2 tsp. celery salt
1-1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. ground mace
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

How to:
Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Store in an airtight container and store in a cool place.

Shrimp Boil

½ cup “homemade old bay”
1 tablespoon salt
3 quarts water
1 can (12 ounces) beer (optional)
1 large yellow onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, smashed
8 medium red potatoes cut in quarters
8 ears fresh corn, cut in half
4 pounds large shrimp in shells

Directions
In an 8-quart pot, bring crab seasoning, salt, water and beer to boil on high heat.
Add onions and garlic and simmer for 15 minutes. Add potatoes and let cook for about 10 minutes. You don’t want them done at this point.
Add corn and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for 3 minutes.
**at this point turn off heat! You don’t want to overcook the shrimp.

Spoon and serve with grilled bread and plenty of cheap cold beer!

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 9:44 am and is filed under Main Dishes , allspice, beer, cloves, corn, garlic, ginger, mace, old bay, paprika, shrimp. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.