RE: [CH] Cajun Boil

T. Matthew Evans (matt.evans@ce.gatech.edu)
Thu, 15 Aug 2002 10:24:20 -0400 

Mark --

You will also often hear of this method referred to as a "Low Country Boil",
especially in the coastal areas of SC, GA, and northern FL.  My wife and I
love to do these using our outdoor turkey fryer -- ice down some
mass-produced American beer (Budweiser!), cover some old tables with
newspaper, and get busy.  Here's what we like to cook:

1.  Shellfish -- whatever you like -- shrimps, clams, mussels, mudbugs, blue
crabs.
2.  Potatoes -- small, whole, red-skinned
3.  Corn -- on the cob, we like Silver Queen (east coast) or Platinum Lady
(NM)
4.  Smoked sausage -- andouille is great, but use what you can get

Fill your pot about 1/2 to 2/3 with water and apply heat.  While water is
heating, season it -- I like Zataran's liquid crawfish boil the best (I used
to boil 100 lbs. of crawfish a week in this stuff when I worked at a Cajun
restaurant), but Zataran's powder is also good (can find it at local grocery
stores), and you could use Old Bay, too -- bottom line, add as much of this
seasoning as called for on the package, taste, and adjust.  Then I also add
a few sliced onions, a couple of heads of garlic, cut in half, some bay
leaves (if not using Old Bay), and a few halved chiles (cayenne or Tabasco
work well).  Your last seasoning should be a bottle or two of hot sauce --
use something cheap and vinegary like Frank's, Crystal, or Goya -- you need
the vinegar in your boil and using expensive hot sauce would be a waste.
When the water starts boiling, add your potatoes and sausage and cook for
8-10 minutes.  Then, add shellfish and corn in the following order, waiting
a few minutes between additions:  clams > blue crabs > corn > mudbugs >
shrimps > mussels.  Remember that corn, mudbugs, shrimps, and mussels all
only need to cook for a minute or two.  Everything should be finished at
about the same time.

A final note:  many people use beer instead of (or in addition to) water for
this.  If I am doing a small boil for 2-4 people, I will use beer.  For a
larger boil, the amount of beer required gets expensive (a case or two).
But, if you'd like, you can pour a couple of beers into a large vat of your
poaching liquid -- I don't think you'll notice any difference in taste, but
you can tell your guests that dinner was "boiled in beer".  Good luck.

Matt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T. Matthew Evans
Graduate Research Assistant
Geosystems Group, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
URL: www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte964w
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com
[mailto:owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com]On Behalf Of M. & L. Doster
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 8:40 AM
To: chile-heads@globalgarden.com
Subject: [CH] Cajun Boil


I'm getting tired of BBQing and remember seeing on TV a Cajun Boil, so
thought I might try that.

Does anyone have experience with that?
What is the spice mixture that's added to the boil?
Also, I remember seeing hot sauce being poured into the boil.

Thanks.

--Mark