It is full on summer right now! Hot, humid, no breeze. Not good for sailing; not good for cooking on board. So let’s take a note from our southern states by cooking outside with your neighbors. Low Country Boil is South Carolina and Georgia’s solution to Maryland’s Steam Crabs or Louisiana’s Crawfish Boil. Put a big steamer pot on an outdoor burner, fill it up with shellfish, sweetcorn and potatoes and get all your neighbors to come join you!

There’s always a debate when it comes to steamed shrimp. There are those who swear by head on, shells on. Some like heads off, shells on. Some like shells off but tail on. And then there are those that don’t like to mess with any shells when they eat shrimp and steam them with shells and tails off. We took a vote today and the consensus was shells off, tails on.

Low County Boil

1 can of Beer
Water (about 1-2 gallons)
4 lemons, quartered
1 large onion cut into 4-6 pieces
1 garlic head, smashed or minced
Old Bay Seasoning to taste. Start out with 1/4 cup
4 lb baby red potato, about 12, halved if large
2 lbs Kielbasa or andouille sausage or both
6 ears fresh corn, shucked, cut in half
3 lbs medium-large unpeeled shrimp
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup butter

Clean your shrimp. Devein if you’d like. I used medium sized shrimp so did not bother to devein them. Keep chilled.

Shuck the corn and chop the kielbasa into 1-2″ chunks. Clean and halve the potatoes.

Mince the parsley.

Fill a large stock pot half way with water and one can of beer. Add the onion, garlic and Old Bay. Bring to a boil and add the kielbasa. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes to the pot and let boil for about 10 minutes, until fork-tender. Then add the corn.

Let that boil up for another 5 minutes. Then add the shrimp and parsley.

Cover and simmer another 5 minutes and it’s ready to devour.

Serving can be done in a number of ways. One traditional way to serve Low Country Boil is by scooping all the ingredients out of the broth and tossing on newspaper. Drizzle with melted butter and dig in. Keep lots of paper towels on hand! Or served in bowls with the broth and butter.

PRINT RECIPE

Low Country Boil

For a great neighborhood gathering on a hot summer day

Author: GalleyPirate

Ingredients

• 1 can Beer
• Water, to fill a steamer pot, about a gallon or two
• 4 Lemons, quartered
• 1 Large yellow onion, cut into 4-6 pieces
• 1 Head of garlic, smashed or minced
• ¼ cup Old Bay Seasoning, or to taste
• 4 lbs Red potatoes, about 12, halved if too large
• 2 lbs Kielbasa or andouille sausage or both
• 6 ears Fresh corn, shucked, cut in half
• 3 lbs Medium-large shrimp
• 2 tbsp Fresh parsley, minced
• ½ cup Butter, melted

Instructions

• Clean your shrimp. Devein if you'd like. I used medium sized shrimp so did not bother to devein them. Keep chilled.
• Shuck the corn and chop the kielbasa into 1-2" chunks. Clean and halve the potatoes.
• Mince the parsley.
• Fill a large stock pot half way with water and one can of beer. Add the onion, garlic and Old Bay. Bring to a boil and add the kielbasa. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Add the potatoes to the pot and let boil for about 10 minutes, until fork-tender. Then add the corn.
• Let that boil up for another 5 minutes. Then add the shrimp and parsley.
• Cover and simmer another 5 minutes and it's ready to devour.

Notes