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Mr. Right
02-08-2015, 07:22 PM
I like passing along good things. I get to talk some as I'm doing it. This recipe was passed to me by a true Southern Gentleman. He grew up in Columbus, Miss. in the 1920s and 30s. He told stories of seeing hanged bodies in trees, and not all were what you'd think. He served in WW2 in the bloodiest fighting in the Italian mountains and specificly around Cassino. (sp)? He told me the things he'd seen there were much worse than his boyhood home. I've alway gravitated tward older folks and this fellow and his wife would visit when we'd have partys. Then, I was in my late 20s and he was in his late 60s. After folks got to know him, it was nothing for Mr. C to be entertaining 3 or 4 people standing around listening to his stories. His wife still lives, but he's been gone for 9 years. I'm glad he passed before seeing what's gone on since he died. He fought for something much different.

Ok, 3lbs of shrimp, 2.5 stalks of celery chopped, quarter an onion, add about a half handful of garlic chopped 4 tablespoons of kosher salt , last I use one package of dry bagged Zaterains crab/shrimp boil, and 3 tablespoons of Zat liquid crab boil and
a half tablespoon of red/cayenne pepper a lemon sliced in half, squeezed into the mix before dumping the shrimp. Heat a gallon and a quart of water to boil, add all ingrediens except the lemon. Let this simmer for at least 30 minutes. Taste it... see if it needs more salt or garlic. Before adding shrimp, bring it to a FULL boil.

Dump the headed shrimp in and let it return to boil. The shrimp will float soon... when they do, cut it off and let it steep for about 5 more minutes. Strain in a colander, and put ice over them to cool them. The lemon juice supposedly makes them peel easier. I usually cook red potatoes in the broth that's strained, but tonight I just put 4 small ones in before I added the
shrimp.
I serve them with a poor man's remoulade sauce 1 part horseradish mustard. Zat works good or wal-mart's brand is ok.
I add just a bit of lemon juice, and worchestershire sauce. Mix it up good, dip them peeled shrimp in them and thank God you live in the South. Oh, the taters are good any way you wanna eat them. I like them with butter and sour cream, but take your pick.
R.I.P. H.G.C. you were a helluva guy.

PolWatch
02-08-2015, 07:26 PM
People we love never really die. They live in our hearts forever. Whenever we remember or talk about them, they live again. When you do something they taught you, they live again. When your children do something 50 years from now (like cook shrimp using Mr C's recipe) he will still be alive. The secret ingredient in the recipe is love & friendship. :wink:

Peter1469
02-08-2015, 07:55 PM
Sounds yummy.

Captain Obvious
02-08-2015, 11:13 PM
That sounds pretty good, but shrimp is a premium nowadays, not sure I have the heart to boil them.

Once in a blue moon we'd get them and grill them. Hot sauce and butter basically, or wing sauce. Or that Zat stuff which is pretty decent, buddy of mine turned me onto it but we use it mostly for salads and for grilling catfish.

Redrose
02-09-2015, 12:42 AM
That recipe sound delicious, I can't wait to make it. I love shellfish.

Mr. Right
02-09-2015, 07:49 AM
That sounds pretty good, but shrimp is a premium nowadays, not sure I have the heart to boil them.

Once in a blue moon we'd get them and grill them. Hot sauce and butter basically, or wing sauce. Or that Zat stuff which is pretty decent, buddy of mine turned me onto it but we use it mostly for salads and for grilling catfish. Captain Obvious, I'm not sure how much shrimp cost where you're living, but I got the 3 lbs for less than $20. not bad, but Pol will tell you that it was nothing to get large shrimp on the causeway just outside downtown Mobile for $3.00 or less. Zatarains makes many different products; cajun seasoning in the round cylinder box, bagged seasoning for boiling that you just toss into your boil, and they make the liquid
shrimp/crab boil as well as fish fry mixes. I don't consider them to be the benchmark, they're just handy.

PolWatch
02-09-2015, 07:57 AM
Living on the Gulf Coast its easy to forget that most people don't have the access to quality seafood at reasonable prices. The most I have ever paid for shrimp was $12.00 a lb....and that was for 4 count. 4 count means there were 4 shrimp to a pound.

My husband has family in Tenn & he talked about moving there when he retired. Its a beautiful state & the cost of living isn't bad in the rural areas. I told him ok....but he needed to make arrangements for fresh seafood to be delivered to Tenn at least twice a month. We stayed on the Gulf Coast.:wink:

Captain Obvious
02-09-2015, 08:00 AM
It's $15/lb here in the Ohio Valley, at the probably only place we can get it.

The price went way up about a year or more ago because of an "ick" that was going around the wild shrimp population.

PolWatch
02-09-2015, 08:04 AM
The last shrimp I bought was about $3.98 lb...for 20-30 count (large). Mr Right has me wanting some shrimp so I will probably be going to the market sometime this week.

I don't buy crabs unless they are live so they are expensive. Last purchase for them was about $15.00 a dozen.

Captain Obvious
02-09-2015, 08:08 AM
The last shrimp I bought was about $3.98 lb...for 20-30 count (large). Mr Right has me wanting some shrimp so I will probably be going to the market sometime this week.

I don't buy crabs unless they are live so they are expensive. Last purchase for them was about $15.00 a dozen.

I get blue crabs when we're in NC, live.

Side note - never use hot dog tongs to grab them with.

I can go for some shrimp too, haven't decided what I'm making for dinner today. She'd have to drive up and get it though.

PolWatch
02-09-2015, 08:44 AM
I don't think there is a bad way to fix shrimp....I'm a shrimp-a-holic with no plans to even try to give 'em up!

Common
02-09-2015, 09:41 AM
The way I eat shrimp it would be a waste to go through all that. I used to use a recipe and then I realized I was wasting my time.

I steam my shrimp, I take a small amt of cocktail sauce add horseradish and tabasco, Peel, dip and eat. Ive tried shrimp all different ways, Ive used many other dippin sauce and I alway go right back to this. I also use the same thing for clams on the halfshell

Mr. Right
02-09-2015, 01:45 PM
Steaming is ok, they sell them for about 8 bucks a pound steamed. We've been boiling them since I was old enough to remember. Back when I lived on the Mississippi coast, I had a 20' trawl net and when they were thick, you could easily get a hundred pounds. I'd take a friend and a case of beer and shrimp from 6 or so at night, till about 1 in the morning. Sometimes it was so slow, we'd just quit, other times, we'd have more than we could put up.