Seafood Boil

The lobster dish from Market Street inspired this seafood boil

It had been awhile since I last hosted a seafood boil, and I was anxious to have another. A couple of wonderful families invited us to their Greek Easter celebrations complete with lamb on the spit, LOTS of traditional Greek food, and egg hunts for the kids so I thought this would be a great way to reciprocate.

First, the table. I covered it with white drawing paper (you could also use butcher paper) which fit perfectly width wise so I didn't need to cut it. I added the red and white checkered table cloth from the Dollar Tree, my favorite seashell sand and candle display from Pottery Barn, and paper towel. At each place setting there was a personal bucket for shells lined with super cute state of Texas paper I found at Paper Affair (here in Dallas). The bucket also contained a plastic lobster bib, crackers, a wet nap, silverware, and a mini bottle of white wine.

The guys loved it and did a great job helping drain those heavy buckets of seafood greatness!

Now that we moved south, I don't have all the delicious New England seafood at my fingertips. A majority of the seafood here comes from the Gulf and is Cajun inspired. Catfish, crayfish, and po'boys are what you will find on a typical seafood menu instead of Haddock, Cod, Maine lobster, and king crab legs. I'm not thrilled about it but I have tried them. I have also found the places that fly in seafood from Maine around here! The Oceanaire Seafood Room, Cousins Maine Lobster Food Truck, The keeper, Seabreeze, and Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen are a few of my favorites.

For this boil, I used Dungeness crab from Costco in place of lobster and was very happy with the results! They were sweet and delicious. In fact, he's almost too cute to eat...almost!

In addition to the Dungeness crab, I added large shrimp, clams, andouille sausage, red potatoes, corn, and onion. For the seasoning I use a combination of Old Bay and Old Bay Hot, butter, garlic, red pepper flakes and black pepper. For garnish I set out lemons, melted butter, and cocktail sauce.

Over the years I found that cooking a seafood boil for a large crowd on your stove is easier when you cook the corn and potatoes separately from the meat. I use the exact same seasoning combination and then just mix them all together when everything is dumped out onto the table. You could use multiple pots but be careful not to overcook the crab and clams if you have a couple pots going at the same time. If you are making a boil for 4-6 adults you could easily use one large pot.

The fun part of a seafood boil is that you cover the table and pour out the food for everyone to enjoy with their hands. However, the temps here were in the mid-90's that evening and the husbands were kind enough to let the wives enjoy a relaxing dinner while they watched the kids in the pool first. Because of that I choose to pour the boil out on cookie sheets and keep in our air conditioned, fly free kitchen.

 

In addition to the seafood I served fresh bread, traditional Greek salad and watermelon. Hamburgers, chips, and dessert of cheesecake and ice cream were also available.

I would say this seafood boil another success from all the empty plates and smiles! It left my husband begging for another so I'm already planning for this coming summer!

One of the best things about a seafood boil besides being delicious and easy to make is that you can prepare it anyway you want. Add  only shrimp, potatoes, sausage, corn and seasoning. Make it a crayfish boil. Or go all out and load it up with lobster, king crab legs, and clams. Serve it on newspaper and picnic tables or fancy plates indoors. Enjoy it at the lake or your own backyard. It's a fun meal to share with family and friends while catering it to your own needs.

Check out my Pinterest board crab,shrimp,lobster boil to see more fun ideas you can use to host your seafood boil this summer!

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