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Frogmore Stew

Source of Recipe

From "The Southerner's Cookbook" by the editors of Garden & Gun


Recipe Introduction

"If you can boil water, you can make Frogmore Stew, which you might know better by its more common name: Lowcountry boil. It's a one-pot mix—a 'boil'—of coastal Carolina and Georgia's peak summer offerings. 'You can't do much more than find the best ingredients and make them sing,' says Mike Lata, chef and co-owner of FIG and the Ordinary in Charleston, South Carolina, who trades traditional blue crab for easier-to-eat stone crab claws in this recipe. You don't even need utensils to eat it. Unlike the one-pots of some great port cities—bouillabaisse in Marseille or cioppino in San Francisco—Frogmore Stew is drained from its cooking liquid and transferred to a platter or sometimes just spread out on a newspaper-covered picnic table and eaten with your hands."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 9 to 10 quarts water
â—¦ At least ½ cup Old Bay Seasoning
â—¦ 16 small new potatoes (about 12 ounces), about 1 inch in diameter, rinsed but not peeled
â—¦ 8 ounces kielbasa, sliced into ½-inch-thick rounds
â—¦ 2 medium Vidalia onions, peeled and quartered lengthwise
â—¦ 3 ears fresh corn, shucked and cut into thirds
â—¦ 16 fresh shrimp, preferably white Carolina shrimp with head on (you may want more depending on size of shrimp)
â—¦ 8 stone crab claws (about 2 pounds)

Garnishes:
â—¦ Soft butter (for the potatoes and corn), sea salt, lemon wedges, Tabasco sauce, and cocktail sauce


Recipe

Fill a large (at least 12-quart) stockpot two-thirds of the way with water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, add the Old Bay, and simmer for 5 minutes to infuse (the water should be abundantly seasoned and aromatic).

Add the potatoes, kielbasa, and onions and adjust the heat to maintain simmer; cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Add the corn and simmer until the kernels are slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and crab claws and cook until the shrimp becomes pink, and both the shrimp and crab are lightly fragrant, 5 to 6 minutes.

Strain the solids from the cooking liquid and transfer them to an oversize platter or paper-lined table.

Serves 8 to 10