The Impatient Chef Goes Cajun in "The Great Shrimp Boil".

The Impatient Chef has on occasion delved into Southern Cooking.  It seemed only reasonable to go for the holy grail: The Shrimp Boil.

What is that you say?  It really should be a crawfish boil?  The Impatient Chef prefers shrimp.  Crawfish, as I've had them in the past are, shall we say, an acquired taste, not a required taste.  

This was my first attempt, and I decided to do it without a recipe. My goal was to create the taste I had at a local cajun restaurant a few months ago.  I flavored it a little at a time until I came up with the taste I wanted.  I will be doing it again soon, and may improve upon the recipe.  My wife cleaned her dish completely and waxed poetically about it, so I think it was a success. 

This is a spicy dish.  It isn't the kind that requires a Last Will and Testament, though.  You can survive it.  It has a pleasant burn.  

Feeds 6 because The Impatient Chef cannot feed the whole neighborhood.  Look up some recipes, they call for gallons of boil broth.  

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined (keep the shells)
• 3 ears of corn
• 4 andouille sausages
• 1 1/2 lbs new potatoes (small and red), or other, just not russet.
• 8 cups water (including the shrimp broth)
• 7 large cloves garlic, pressed
• 3/4 cup hot sauce (Franks, or Louisiana Hot)
• 1/4 cup Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you dare)
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 tbsp Tony Chachere’s Cajun seasoning, or Buck’s Zestier BBQ seasoning

Directions:

1. Steam the potatoes until done.  I used an old fondue skewer to check for doneness, rather than cutting them open.  See “Notes on Potatoes” at the end of the recipe for why I did this.
2. While the spuds are steaming, shell and devein the shrimp, place them into a small bowl of cold water.  Hold for last.  Put the shrimp shells into a medium sauce pan, cover with water, and boil for 10 minutes uncovered to make shrimp broth.  
3. While the shells are boiling, chop the sausage into 1” pieces on an angle.  Cut the corn cobs into 1 1/2 inch pieces.    
4. When the Shrimp shells are done, strain liquid into a 8-cup measuring cup.  If you don’t have that size, use smaller ones to measure out the correct amount of liquid: 6 cups total.
5. When the potatoes are done, remove them from the steamer, and set them aside.  
6. Add the liquid to a large pot, and add the Old Bay, hot sauce, Cajun or Buck’s seasoning, cayenne pepper, butter, salt, pepper, and pressed garlic.  Stir.  Taste.  Adjust.  
7. Bring to a boil, covered, stirring occasionally.
8. Boil the broth for 5 minutes, and, add the potatoes, sausage and corn.  Stir.  
9. Taste.  
10. Boil for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, trying not to break the potato's skins, then add the shrimp.  Boil for 1 minute.  It does not matter whether the broth boils.  Turn the heat off after a minute.  
11. Serve.  
12. Enjoy.  We like to have buttered sourdough bread, or some rice with this meal. 

         

Notes on Potatoes:  On my second try at this recipe, I chose small, red potatoes.  Ones that were small enough to cook whole.  The thought being that I would get a cleaner broth.  I started by steaming the potatoes, whole, until done, and setting them aside while I prepared the boil broth.  It was a success.  The multi-colored fingerling potatoes shown in the picture had to be cut up, and by the end of the boil, there was a bit of sediment in the bottom, which became worse upon reheating.  Being frugal, we like to eat everything we cook, and the end of the broth was not as pleasurable as the beginning.  With the small, whole potatoes, the broth was indeed very clean.  I cut them apart once in my bowl, and they absorbed plenty of the spicy goodness.  While this method is not traditional, I think it made for a better taste and texture.  

Another change to the recipe was the addition of 2 more cloves of garlic, and I upped the hot sauce to 1/2 cup.