Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Seafood Boil

When my family took a trip to Florida last year, I was dead set on doing one of those seafood boils where you cook a bunch of seafood in a big pot and then dump it on a newspaper covered table on the beach. I've never seen this done in the Pacific Northwest, it's something I envisioned on warm sandy beaches.

Sadly, this never happened, and I've been really bitter about it over the last year!

So when we started renovating our new home, I started to go through my mind on what kinds of meals I can prepare using minimal effort, maximizing on not being around for 6-8 hours, but yeilding DELICIOUS results. Of course - anything with a crockpot, right? ;)

With a compilation of a few recipes found throughout the internets as well as my own tastes, I present to you a seafood boil that even us Pacific Northwesterners can have. No, you probably won't be dumping it spectacularly on a table on a sandy beach (I'm pretty bitter about the lack of sandy beaches around here too, I guess), but you can enjoy it after a rough day of pulling up nasty old carpet, masking off mirrors for paint, or just if you have company coming over ;) For all you East Coasters, keep in mind that I've never actually had a legit version of this before. In fact, this was the first time I've ever had it. Share your warm water skills and tell me how you do it!

This will happily feed 4 adults.

You will need:
A HUUUUUUUUUGE crockpot!
1 package of Zatarains Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil
8 baby red potatoes
4 ears of corn, cut in half
4 stalks of celery
2 cloves of garlic
4 sausages - we used Aidell's Cajun Style Adouille and it was REALLY spicy! I'd opt for a more mild flavored one next time.
2 lbs of unshelled shrimp (so excited for Zaycon Fresh's wild caught Argentine shrimp!)
1 large lemon for the finish

optional: add your favorite mussels, shellfish, lobster, shellfish, crab, artichokes - you name it! But keep in mind the size of your crockpot.

You will do:
*Note: Before we begin, you can make this in the crockpot from start to finish. I was on somewhat of a time crunch, so I prepared the boil seasoning and potatoes on the stove to speed up the cooking process on the potatoes. The following recipe is what I did.
1. Prepare the crab boil according to the instructions with how much water it calls for. Add quartered baby reds to the mixture, allow to cook long enough for the potatoes to soften slightly - they don't need to be fully cooked. This is probably less than 20 minutes.
2. Pour the boil and potatoes into your crockpot. Add your corn, celery, garlic, sausages (I cut them into quarters as well). Cover, turn on low and you can walk away for about 3-4 hours (probably 5-6 hours if you didn't precook the pototoes).
3. 20 minutes before you want to eat, toss in your shrimp. It's going to be a very tight fit so try to squeeze it all in there. Serve immediately once the shrimp is done- don't let those babies overcook!
4. To serve, discard the boil broth. That's right, it's not a soup - it's more of a marinade. Give a healthy squirt of lemon juice on top for some freshness and have some fresh french or sourdough bread handy too!


As a growing family of 4 I make it a goal to source the best quality meat at the best prices. That's why I buy all of our meat through Zaycon Fresh.  We've saved hundreds of dollars in the price of meat as well as I always have the convenience of not having to go to the grocery store to purchase meats. Sign up for Zaycon Fresh and see all the different meats you can buy - salmon, cod, shrimp, beef, pork, chicken, sausages, bacon, turkey and more! By signing up for Zaycon Fresh I get a referral bonus, so thanks in advance for helping me feed my family!

13 comments:

  1. This recipe looks and sounds so good.I love seafood,and would love to try this.I have a large crockpot,but I don't know if it would hold all of this.I'm going to try it soon to find out.

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    1. Kathy, it's a tight fit! You might want to cut some of the veggies a little smaller to let everything settle in better.

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  2. Oh My Gosh this sounds absolutely delicious!! I have been looking for a recipe like this for awhile and believe I just found what I am making for Valentines Dinner :-). Thank you co much!!

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    1. YUM! It's the perfect Valentine's dinner.. it's so easy but looks like a lot of work ;) lol! Enjoy!

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  3. this is right up our alley since we love seafood and this looks so good. I would have never thought to use a crockpot

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  4. OMG ! This looks and sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing. I do have a very big crock pot so I'm ready to start cooking. :) Love Seafood.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

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  5. love me some seafood! this looks amazing, thanks for sharing!!!!

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  6. I love seafood and red potatoes. I think though that I would have to use a mild Adouille sausage. I can't take much heat.

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  7. This sounds amazing! My hubby is a seafood addict, I will be making this very soon!!

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  8. What a coincidence. I just hung up from my brother and he's ice-fishing ona lake about an hour out of Montana. We were all seafood lovers growing up and remain so today. I like the fish and all the trimmings mentioned in your recipe. Maybe when my family all gets together we'll give i a boil.

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  9. this sounds amazing , except i don't eat shell fish .. but everything else in the pot looks good, i usually have to add like everything and cook some fish on the grill or bake it.. these are also wonderful in the summer time or to warm up in the winter time :) thanks for share @tisonlyme143

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  10. Oh man, I have a craving for some seafood now! We are lucky to live in South GA which means seafood everywhere! Yummy.

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  11. Mmm!! Makes me wish I lived in the south and had everything readily available for us!! This would be my dream dinner!!

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