I love shrimp.  It is my great good fortune to spend a good bit of my time in and around the Gulf Coast, where they have a variety of really deliscious shrimp.  I am as bad as that characther in Forrest Gump.  You know.  Bubba!  "Well, there's fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, shrimp stew, shrimp gumbo, grilled shrimp,,," and so on and so on.  I thought I might post my frind Kevin Hartland's Shrimp Boil Primer. I always enjoy his efforts and his technique is a classic in West Houston.  Why not try some good boiled shrimp during the holidays?  It's a great offset to the turkey/ham/roast that we all enjoy.  Try spicy boiled shrimp like these with a good young red wine (Look for a Carlo Basso Malbec out of Argentina) or a bold white wine. My favorite is 2007 Torrontes by Susanna Balbo.  It's marketed under the Crios label. Ask for Crios de Sussana Balbo Torrontes.  Man, that is really good with boiled or grilled spicy shrimp!  The aroma of white peaches and hyacinths give the refreshing clean taste of the wine a fabulous, lasting presence.

SHRIMP BOIL PRIMER

Shrimp 101

INGREDIENTS:

21-25 count shrimp (ave. 10 shrimp per adult)

Sm. Red potato’s (approx. 2-3 per adult)

Boiler onions (10-15)

Blue Ribbon smoked sausage (1 ½ to 2 big packs)

Frozen corn (ave. about 1-2 per adult)

Large cap mushrooms (optional)

Whole garlic (I buy it in a jar already peeled)

Bay leaves (10-12)

Cajun seasoning

2-3 bottles of Zatarains liquid Shrimp & Crab Boil

1 box of Louisiana’s Crawfish, Shrimp and Boil (yellow & orange box, MUST SAY BOIL IN BAG)

Salt

Small Bottle of vinegar

Lemons

3 large disposable roasting pans to put the food in

PREP WORK:

Peel onions and cut in half, set aside

Cut sausage into small chunks set aside

Remove stems from mushrooms, and wipe clean

WORK STATION:

Have all your food and seasonings ready to use at your work station

Big wire mesh spoon to scoop out floaters (food) in the boil

Oven glove to protect your forearm from boiling water, when unloading food into pan

PROCESS:

I do this in 4 stages:

Stage 1, fill boiler pot with water up to water line, add 1 bottle of crab boil liquid, shrimp boil bag of seasoning, salt to taste, 1/3rd jar of whole garlic, all the bay leaves, Cajun seasoning to taste, bring to a boil.

Stage 2, add potato’s and sausage and boil until potato is fork tender, remove and put in roasting pan, cover with foil and set aside, or keep warm in oven. This step usually takes about 20-25 mins. Remove excess potato and sausage with mesh spoon.

Stage 3, re-season water with salt to taste, ½ bottle to a bottle of liquid boil and another 1/3 of garlic. 10 mins. later add corn, onions and mushrooms (if using). This takes about 15mins. Pour into roasting pan and cover and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning if desired.

Stage 4, re-season water with remaining garlic in the jar, another ½ to full bottle of liquid boil, ½ cup to 2/3rd’s cup of white vinegar, squeeze several lemon halves into water, 6 lemons total, salt to taste, let boil for 10 mins. Add shrimp, boil until the shrimp begins to float (3-4 mins.), turn burner off and soak shrimp for a couple of minutes longer to absorb the boil.. DON’T SOAK OR COOK TOO LONG. When they turn pink and start to float they’re done, soaking afterwards is to get more heat into them. Pour shrimp into roasting pan and sprinkle Cajun seasoning over shrimp if you want more heat. Test one or two shrimp with Cajun seasoning before you season entire batch. Don’t forget about the floaters in the pot!