Shrimp Boil! Par-tay and RECIPE!

Y'all might know that I am still on vacation.  The other night, we all got together and had a shrimp boil. This dish is so yummy, pretty healthy (as long as you can watch your portions,) and is a perfect "party dish" because everyone just digs in!  We had a blast!  So much good food, so much fun!  And, the leftovers heat up pretty well too!!

The nice thing about a shrimp (or crawfish or crab) boil is that there are minimum dishes (a cutting board, knife, and large stock pot) and it makes A TON of food!  This is a perfect dish for parties.  Plus, it's great to use with paper plates, or NO plates at all.

Traditionally, the seafood boils are just poured onto a table covered in butcher paper (or even newspaper, although I think that is kinda gross,) and every one digs in with their hands!  When finished, wrap up the paper and toss it, clean out the stock pot, wash the cutting board and knife, and clean up is done!

My mom is allergic to fish.  So, we improvised.  We had two stock pots going, one with shrimp, one without, and we used cookie sheets to present the boil so that the two wouldn't get messed up.  See?!?!

Oh... I also TRIPLED the recipe......  ok, so I am not good at figuring out how much people will eat.  :) 

Looks yummy though, huh! 

Ok, so, here is the recipe! (I know, that is really the whole reason you came to the post.) This recipe will feed 6 adults. 

Shrimp Boil

4 lbs of uncooked, devained, tail on, jumbo shrimp (You can use shrimp with the shell on as well, it just takes a little longer to cook.)

3 medium onions or 2 large- Quartered

5 Large Lemons- Halved

1 whole garlic bulb, small- pressed (about 6-8 large cloves)

2 lbs- red or russet potatoes- cut into 1 ½ -2” sections

3- Large Sausage links (cut into pieces at a diagonal.) We used Hillshire Farms Turkey Polska Kielbasa Sausage, and al fresco italian style chicken sausage. (You could try the blueberry, but...... well.... let me know how that goes.) Any of these flavors would be good.  Be creative!

1- Zuchinni- cut into 1 inch pieces

1- Yellow Squash- cut into 1 inch pieces

24- mini corn cobs (2 packages)

1 stick of butter (dont' worry, you dump most of this out with the water)

1 package Zatarains Crawfish, Crab, Shrimp Boil Seasonings

2 TBSP- Basil

2 TBSP- Parsley

1 TBSP- Dill

2 Bay Whole Bay Leaves

Fill VERY LARGE, like, HUGE, like, two feet tall stock pot  with 6 quarts of water ( you can always add more if you need it.)  Add Onions, Seasoning,  3 Lemons, Garlic, 1 stick of butter, Dill, Basil, Parsley and Bay Leaves.  Bring to Boil and let simmer for 15 minutes

Add potatoes, zucchini, squash, and sausage.  Boil for about 10 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.

Add Corn Cobs. Bring to boil.

Add Shrimp. Cook for 1-2 minutes until shrimp turns white.  Remove as soon as it changes.

Drain and Serve on a table,  large cookie sheet, large plate or whatever. Eat buffet style, in the center of the table.   Squeeze lemons onto pile.

Serves 6 adults

Cute Plate, huh. 

My family thought that this would be gross.  In fact, just in case, my sister went nuts on the dessert end. She figured if the Shrimp Boil was gross, she could fill up on dessert..... (where's the trust?)

Talk about Temptation!!!  I was good though! 

There you have it folks! Healthy and delicious!  Be careful though, choose the wrong sausage and it will backfire since those things are super high in fat and calories and..... CORN SYRUP!  I think it's worth the little extra for better quality sausage. Just sayin'.