Boiled Shrimp and Cocktail Sauce

By the time you read this, I should be in the air somewhere between Tortola and Greensboro, North Carolina.  I’m going home to spend some time with my folks and pick up Audrey from camp.  I’m not sure when I’ll next have internet access so I’m experimenting with the advance scheduling feature on my site.  Here’s hoping it works!

I won’t make it down to the lowcountry this year so no trips to the Gay Fish Company on St. Helena Island for shrimp fresh off the boat.  But my dad has a good source in Winston-Salem (Sea Products, Inc.) so I won’t suffer from lack of Carolina summer shrimp.  I like shrimp just about any way you cook it but my favorite has got to be the simple, old-fashioned Southern shrimp boil.  Last time I boiled shrimp was for Bobby Gray’s birthday party and it turned out really well, even with the frozen shrimp we get here.

Southern-Style Boiled Shrimp

If you really want to get all Southern about it, take your shrimp feast outside.  Cover a picnic table with old newspapers.  Drain the shrimp and dump them in a pile in the middle of the table.  Dig in with your fingers and toss the shells on the ground.  Make sure there’s cocktail sauce, saltine crackers and plenty of ice cold beer.  Damn, life doesn’t get much better than that.

2 quarts water

1 beer (any lager will do)

2 teaspoons celery seeds

2 tablespoons salt

2 teaspoons hot Hungarian paprika

1 teaspoon regular paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1 lemon, sliced

1 small onion, peeled and sliced

2 whole garlic cloves, peeled

4 pounds medium shrimp in the shell (31-35 or 21-30 count)

Put everything but the shrimp in a large pot and bring it to a boil.  Boil the spiced water for five minutes and then add the shrimp.  Cover the pot and immediately remove it from the heat.  Let the shrimp steep in the water until they’re cooked through to your liking, about 15-20 minutes.  Drain the shrimp, discard the whole spices and the lemon, onion and garlic.  The shrimp can be served either at room temperature or chilled.

My 4 pounds of shrimp fed 30 guests as one of several appetizers in advance of a hearty meal.  But if the shrimp is focal point of your dinner and you’re feeding a crowd of shrimp-loving Southerners, plan on a pound of shrimp per person.

Cocktail Sauce

This sauce is about as old-school Southern as it gets and we also love it with oysters on the half shell.  You can go really retro and arrange half a dozen peeled shrimp, some cocktail sauce and a wedge of lemon in a martini glass.  Serve with martinis (the alcoholic variety) and party like it’s 1969.

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

juice of half a lemon

Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.  Taste and adjust for seasoning.  I like my cocktail sauce quite highly seasoned and often add a little more lemon and horseradish.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups.