Savor Sweet Days of Summer with a Low Country Boil

One of my favorite family pastimes is a family trip to the beach each year.  These trips are full of tradition, laziness, sun, and of course, good food. 

This experience has me spoiled for life.  Yes, there were times in my teenage years when I wished that we could spend our family vacations with the masses on the crowded condo Gulf beaches, but I have long since come to appreciate those childhood years when we could roam up and down the bayside "beaches," our sunburned bathing-suited bodies running in and out of our house and the houses of our friends down the beach. 

I spent hours (and days!) on the swinging bed on the porch.  It is here that we told ghost stories, played hours of cards, had fashion shows of our recently purchased outlet mall attire, had family reunions, and screamed or ran when large bugs came out of the woodwork.   

It is here that I fell in love with fresh shrimp (and like Bubba Gump, I literally could eat gulf shrimp every day in every way for my entire vacation and beyond). It is here that, as far as I am concerned, the sweetest corn is grown and can be bought at roadside stands and family farms.  With such good, local fare, it only makes sense to enjoy it in tried and true fashion.

 

Low Country Boil

3 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 vidalia onion, cut into four wedges

1 lemon, halved

6-8 small new potatoes, halved

1/2 pound spicy link sausage, cut into 2 inch pieces (Conecuh brand is my favorite)

3 ears of sweet white corn, shucked and halved

2 pounds of small, fresh, unpeeled shrimp

Fill a large pot 2/3 full of water.  Add old bay seasoning, salt, and onion.  Squeeze the lemon over the water, and add the halves to the pot.  Put the pot over high heat and bring to a boil.  When the water boils, add the potatoes.  Cook for 25 minutes, then add the corn and sausage.  Cook for 6-7 minutes, then add the shrimp.  Cook for no longer than 1-2 minutes (until the shrimp turn opaque all the way through), turn the heat off, and drain the water from the pot.  Serve with cocktail sauce, and along side lots of fresh, seasonal fruit. 

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No Leftovers

At the end of last week, Kristin at the Kitchen Sink featured her first attempt at a Low Country Boil. This is a meal that I have made many times, and reading her article made me want to put that on our menu for this week’s meals. I added smoked sausage to the pot and cornbread to complete the meal. The first thing that my husband said was, “Are we having company?”, and then he became very excited that it was no special event, but just a Monday night dinner for the two of us.

This was our meal on Tuesday night:

Do you notice anything? You might not, but my husband did notice that there were no leftovers for him to eat for lunch on Tuesday. If you look closely, you will see that there are a lot of similar elements from our Low Country Boil! I took everything except the sausage and repurposed it for Tuesday’s dinner. Of course, my husband was a little disappointed when he realized that there were no leftovers for lunch, but he was very satisfied when dinner came around.

I was worried that because everything was cooked with the same spices on Monday night which is a good thing with that meal, that there would be the same essence throughout Tuesday’s meal (which I did not necessarily want). This really was not a problem; the new flavors that were added were really complemented by the Boil seasoning. Here’s how I did it:

1.) Corn on the Cob becomes a Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad

2 ears of corn, cooked

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1/2 red onion

2-3 stems of basil

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Cut the corn off of the cob using a sharp knife. Place the corn into a medium bowl. Half the cherry tomatoes and add to the corn. Finely dice the onion and add as well. Chiffonade or chop the basil, and add the basil and the rest of the ingredients to the bowl. Mix well, and serve at room temperature.

2.) Potatoes become Potato Salad

You can adjust your ingredients based on how many potatoes you have. Because I was using leftovers, I had fewer potatoes.

6 medium red potatoes, cut into pieces, boiled until cooked through

1 ¼ cups Mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 ½ teaspoon horseradish

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 cup chopped green onions

Mix all together and adjust for seasonings.

3.) Shrimp became Shrimp Burgers

½ pound peeled cooked shrimp

½ rib celery

2-3 stems parsley

1 green onion

1 large lemon

1 ½ tablespoons mayonnaise

½ cup cornbread crumbs (I used one cornbread muffin from the night before)

salt and pepper

hot pepper sauce
1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon butter

Chop the shrimp, celery, parsley and onion. Place into a small bowl. Using a fine grater, zest half of the lemon and add to the bowl. Add the mayonnaise and cornbread. Add salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce to taste. Add about half of the beaten egg, and mix well. The mixture will barely hold together.

Using your hands, make two burgers from the mixture. They will hold together better if they are thicker, rather than wider. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Heat the butter over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Carefully add the burgers, using a spatula to press any parts that have fallen apart. Cook for 3-4 minutes, and then use two spatulas to carefully turn both burgers. Cook on the other side for 3-4 minutes. Serve over a bed of baby greens.