Low Country Boil

Our small group from church decided to do some special meals together for the summer.  One couple offered to do a Low Country Boil.  Although I’d heard of it often and seen pictures of my friends on Facebook eating it, I’d never experienced it myself. 

After tweeting about it, I realized that not only had many others not experienced one, some had not even heard of a Low Country Boil.  So, I picked up a camera for the process and did a little research so we could all learn together.

 

The gist of a Low Country Boil is you get a huge pot of water, potatoes, sausage and one or more types of shellfish and boil it with some heavy seasoning. 

Then, you normally throw it on a picnic table covered in newspaper where it’s all up for grabs.  You’ll see we opted for throwing it in some pans instead.

I was curious, though, where exactly the Low Country Boil originated and found this from Coastal Magazine:

Once called Frogmore Stew, this one-pot wonder was created by a National Guardsman when he needed to cook a meal for 100 soldiers. Richard Gay, who learned the recipe from his family, had everyone remembering his stew. The dish was later named Frogmore, where Richard was from, by the guards who teased him about home. The postal service eliminated the name Frogmore, which changed this popular dish to Lowcountry boil.

I had suspicions it might be a Louisiana dish but it appears to have its roots right here in South Carolina, somewhere between Charleston and Hilton Head—a very lovely area of South Carolina if I do say so.

 

There are a ton of variations of a Low Country Boil. Some add crab, some add crawfish but here’s how ours went down.

First, you need a big pot like a turkey fryer.  Most people make these for big outdoor get-togethers so that works perfectly.

Fill the pot up about half way with water. Dump 5 lbs of red potatoes and a lot of crab boil seasoning in your water.  We used nearly a cup I’d guess. 

The seasoning is the key. This crab boil came from Academy Sports for less than $5. 

Sidebar – I will warn my gluten-free friends that this brand does have MSG in it.  I took some Gluten-Flam and didn’t have any adverse reactions.

 
You’ll want to cook the potatoes until they’re just about done, about 30 minutes. 

While that’s happening, cut your sausage—you’ll need 2-3 lbs.  We used two kinds.  The first is a beef sausage and the second is Kielbasa which has pork, turkey and beef.

When we went out, you could see the potatoes were at a rolling boil and ready for the sausage and corn.

Let that cook for another 15-20 minutes.

If you have folks in your group that are allergic to shrimp, you can take out a plate for them at this point.

Next, it’s time to dump in the shrimp—you’ll need 3 lbs. It’s shell-split and deveined raw.

After another 8-10 minutes, pour out your excess water in the grass.

And now…hold back your dogs and kids because it’s time to dump!

Tucker was READY for that food and you can see Bella’s nose up in the air smelling all the goodness.

As I said, normally, people throw it on newspaper on a table but it was just too muggy and hot out, so we took the party indoors.

 

And as Duck Dynasty folks would say, we were HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!

 

I know it might not look like much, but let me tell you, the seasoning is the star of the show.  So much flavor and goodness.  I do believe we’ll be experiencing another Low Country Boil, y’all.

 

Low Country Boil

5 lbs red potatoes

2-3 lbs sausage

24 small ears of corn

3 lbs of shrimp

Crab Boil to taste

Add water, seasoning and potatoes to a turkey fryer.  Boil potatoes until tender (about 30 minutes).  Add corn and sausage and boil 15-20 minutes.  Add shrimp and boil 8-10 minutes.  Remove excess water and pour food in pans or on newspaper.  Enjoy!

 

Have you ever heard of this?  Experienced it?  Let me know if you make it yourself!