Shani's Seafood Boil

This past year has been a crazy one. There were so many plans that had to be rearranged or cancelled due to covid-19. Birthdays are just an example of those events that had to be rethought. 

Each year if one of our birthdays fell on a weekday we would always go out to eat on the special day; then maybe  have a party on the weekend.  However, if the birthday fell on a weekend then we would just have the party. Due to Covid, this year had to be different for the kids. On my birthday I was lucky enough to have everything open up right before my birthday but I had already planned a seafood boil so I did both. 

My children and I love seafood and we really enjoyed going to one of the Crawfish houses in our area. Even with the pandemic, these places have been extremely busy, with one even opening during the pandemic. I wanted to celebrate all of our birthdays with some delicious seafood, so I made Seafood boils for all three.

I've had enough experience to tweak and perfect my recipe and cooking method. I prefer a sweeter spicy sauce like the restaurant we go to here in town. Its pretty spicy when you make it but the water from the seafood calms it down a bit.

Feel free to add and delete as you wish. I have added all types of stuff to mine so I am including everything into this recipe. You can also choose the different types of crab and shrimp that you want.

*note: Double the recipe if needed.

Ingredients

Sauce

4 sticks of butter

6  cups of seafood broth, chicken broth or water.

1/2 - 1 bottle of Zatarans Shrimp and Crab Boil concentrate

Juice from 2 Lemons, freshly squeezed 

1Tbs White Vinegar 

1Tbs Worcestershire Sauce 

1Tbs Garlic Powder

1Tbs Paprika 

1Tbs Black pepper or White pepper 

1Tbs Cayenne pepper 

1Tbs Onion Powder

1Tbs Powdered Ginger

1Tbs Oregano 

1Tbs Lemon Pepper 

1Tbs Crushed Red Pepper

1Tbs Chili Powder 

1Tbs Old Bay seasoning

1/4-1/2 cup Brown Sugar 

1Tbs Minced garlic 

Ingredients (add or eliminate as you choose)

5 Crab claws, King crab etc

2lbs Clams/Mussels

3lbs Jumbo Shrimp, raw

2lbs Crawfish

Lobster Tails, raw

1lb link sausage cut unto 1/2 inch slices 

10 Red Potatoes cut in half 

4 Corns on the Cob cut in 1/3 pieces 

6 Boiled eggs 

Other

Large Roasting pan

Large Turkey sized oven bag

Turn your oven on to 425° 

Pre-boil your eggs, potatoes, and corn; but do not over boil. While these boil make your sauce and clean your seafood.

Make your sauce.

Turn stovetop to high. Add all of your sauce ingredients and stir. Let boil. Once boiling, turn heat down to medium. Let simmer while you prepare the rest of your ingredients. 

Clean your seafood

While those cook, clean your seafood. 

Once everything has been cleaned, drain your boiled items and your food should be ready for you to add it to the roasting bag. Make sure the bag is sitting in your roasting pan. Be careful to not puncture the bag. 

Once all of your food is in the bag add your sauce, (don't worry it won't melt). Use the tie that came with the bag to close it leaving air room if you can. 

Depending on how much food you add to your bag, you will need to cook 45-60 mins. Make sure to flip bag halfway through. 

Once done, you can dump the contents from the bag into your roasting pan and enjoy. 

You can use your cooked sauce for dipping or you can also make a separate bowl of sauce.

Add warm italian bread for dipping.

And...It Is What It Is!