The Boil At Home
If you can’t go to the boil, have the boil come to you!
I haven’t eaten out at a restaurant in over six weeks now and it makes me so sad. Once New York is open I know one of the first places I’m going is The Boil!
Like many of you out there being on lockdown has forced me to get creative in the kitchen. I’m a huge foodie not only because of my job but out of my genuine love for the culinary art. The first couple of weeks I was stocked up on the usual go-to bunkered down staples. Pasta, frozen vegetables, canned meats, ramen, ect. But now that we’re well over a month in my taste buds are craving diversity. I grew up eating southern food as a lot of my family are creole. Two of my comfort meals are gumbo and a classic crawfish boil. Some may find the process of peeling shellfish daunting and messy but I find it therapeutic. I find joy in literally working for my food. After dreaming of seafood for several days in a row I decided to give myself a treat. Being that we are in crazy times right now I knew finding crawfish wouldn’t be a easy task so I decided just to do shrimp, crab, clams, sausage and corn. I was so grateful my local grocery market had a fresh delivery!
After looking at several recipes to concoct my own I decided on the following ingredients and process:
Broth Ingredients:
8 cups water
2 large lemons sliced
1 medium yellow onion sliced
1 bunch of fresh parsley & thyme
6-8 cloves garlic
1 stick salted butter
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp creole seasoning
2 lbs crab legs (I would have preferred king but were in a quarantine I worked with what they had)
2 lb jumbo shelled shrimp
1 andouille sausage (or your favorite smoked sausage) sliced
2 ears of fresh corn each cut into 3 parts
10ish tiny trio potatoes
Creole Garlic Sauce
1 stick salted butter
3 tbsp mild hot sauce
1 large lemon (juice only)
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp creole seasoning
2 tsp chilli
2 tsp parsley flakes
Make sure that all the seafood, herbs and veggies are nice and clean.
Slice up 2 lemons & onion then toss them into a large pan.
Add in the parsley, fresh thyme & cloves of garlic.
Now add in 1 stick of salted butter, apple cider vinegar & 2 tablespoons of creole seasoning in the large pot.
Pour in 8 cups of cool water, place the pot over high heat.
Bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium high.
Let cook for 45 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium.
Now fish out all the herbs & lemon (or as much as you can).
Add in the andouille sausage & corn. Let cook for 15 minutes.
Next add in the potatoes & cook for 10 minutes.
Adding in the crab. Cook for 15 minutes.
Now toss in the shrimp & turn off the heat!
Let sit for 10 minutes.
While the seafood boil is sitting, we can make our creole spiced garlic sauce. Combine the butter, minced garlic, hot sauce, lemon juice, creole seasoning, chili & parsley flakes into a sauce pan & place it over medium heat.
Once the butter is melted, stir the ingredients, and reduce the heat to low. Let cook for 10 minutes.
You can pour the sauce over the seafood boil, or use to dip!
Enjoy!
