Shrimp Boil for Memorial Day & B-Day

May 30 2016

We celebrated Memorial Day and our son’s birthday today with a shrimp boil. Our daughter had come home for the week-end. Saturday I fixed cheeseburgers on the grill and some potato salad for her and the wife. Sunday night I did skirt steaks on the grill for Fajitas and made some roasted corn salsa. No pics, it was fun to just cook and enjoy.

I had 2 pounds of frozen Texas Gulf shrimp in the shell thawed. I bought some corn on the cob at the grocery I didn’t think would be too great; it always tastes better with fresh picked corn. The smoked sausage was from my butcher Kah Meats.

I added some cabbage wedges this time for the daughter in law; she is a veggie and not a shrimp lover. I fixed some bowls of garlic butter for dipping the shrimp. Loving butter this is a perfect meal; I had a little on my bread, a little on my potatoes and had to have some on the corn! Everyone thought it tasted great. Almost all was gone but a few shrimp. Our daughter in law made a great dessert. It was kind of a creamy peanut butter icing over some kind of chocolate cookies. 

Ingredients

The shrimp

Boiling and ready to add the corn

Served

My first plate!

My Shrimp boil

1 to 2 lbs. good shell on shrimp

1 to 2 lbs. smoked sausage, sliced

1 to 2 lbs. new red potatoes, any bad spots removed

4 to 6 ears of corn; broken in pieces

Cabbage wedges (optional)

1 whole garlic bulb, top sliced off

1 to 2 medium onions, top sliced off.

1 to 2 lemon halves

1 Tbs. Zatarain’s liquid shrimp boil seasoning

1 Tbs. Old Bay seasoning

Hot sauce to taste, I like Cholula, about 2 teaspoons

A large pot with a strainer basket and enough water to cover all. Bring the pot of water with garlic, onions, lemons, Zatarain’s, Old Bay and hot sauce to a boil. Add in the potatoes, sausage and cabbage if using. Continue to boil for 20 to 25 minutes; I do a nice rolling boil. Add the corn and boil for 5 minutes; then add the shrimp and boil another 5 minutes. Lift the basket out and let drain then pour on a large platter or in the middle of the table. Serve with some good crusty bread and plenty of butter. We like some garlic butter to dip the shrimp. A wet cloth is also handy!

This is my basic recipe from over the years; using the larger amounts will feed at least 6 people.