Low Country Boil with Brunswick County Flair
I got married about two years ago on the beach at a nice oceanfront hotel and it was perfect. During one of the initial planning meetings my then fiancé and I sat down with the wedding coordinator to talk about all the details. During this meeting we discussed our dinner menu, and we were given a brochure that had the usual boring wedding fare of meat and vegetable combinations that we were to choose from. Nothing really said “beach wedding” to me so I looked at the coordinator and asked, “Can the chef prepare a Low Country Boil?” She gleefully responded with how the chef loved to go off course and could prepare anything we wanted. We were thrilled!
My family has been serving up a Low Country Boil for as long as I can remember. The idea is to gather together, spread out the meal on newsprint, get messy and have a good time while eating. The clean-up is also super simple as there are no real dishes to clean and the newsprint can be gathered and thrown out. This is a great dish to serve during the summer months because you can get fresh corn and potatoes from your local vegetable stands. The local fish markets are also selling some of the freshest seafood our waters have to offer.
You can customize this one-pot dish anyway you want. I have shared with you my favorite offerings but you can certainly switch it up to include your favorite foods. Maybe you prefer andouille sausage to kielbasa or you prefer crab legs to crawfish. The options are endless.
Next time you are in charge of preparing a meal for friends think about this recipe. Its ease in cooking and cleaning does not take away from the fun and tasteful presentation. Dress it down and impress more.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY James Stefiuk
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- 6 red potatoes, halved
- 6 ears of corn, halved
- 3 lbs large shrimp
- 5 lbs live crawfish
- 2 lbs kielbasa sausage
- 4 lemons, quartered
- 1 TBLS celery salt
- 2 TBLS paprika
- 1 TBLS garlic salt
- 1 TBLS black pepper
- 1 TBLS bay leaf
- 1/2 TBLS dry mustard
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 of your favorite beers
Ingredients
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- In a large stovetop pot pour 3 gallons of water and the three beers. Add the celery salt, paprika, garlic salt, pepper, bay leaf, dry mustard, ginger and lemons and bring to a boil.
- Drop in the potatoes and cook about 10 minutes. Add the corn to the pot of potatoes and cook about 5 more minutes. Next submerge the sausage in the pot and cook another 5 minutes. Lastly, drop in the shrimp and crawfish and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on rumbling boil until the shrimp have pink shells and the crawfish have red shells.
- Drain the liquid and dump the contents of the pot on a large table covered with newsprint. Serve with drawn butter, cocktail sauce and horseradish and watch your friends gather around the table.
You will need a 7-gallon stockpot and a crab cracking tool.
