Frogmore Stew

     We have made Frogmore Stew a number of times and have even documented it on this blog at least once. It has an interesting history and recipe. Actually, as with any stew type concoction, there are many variations on the theme. The key characteristic is the socialization that goes with it. It is normally eaten with fingers, disposable tablecloths (newspapers?), paper towels and cold beer. The major ingredients are partial ears of corn on the cob, shrimp with shells on, chunks of kielbasa or smoked sausage, baby red potatoes, onions, lemons and Cajun spices. Many recipes just use varying amounts of Old Bay seasoning. I also use an assortment of Zatarain's products, a teaspoon of cayenne and a bottle of beer per pot.
     I like to get all the ingredients into multiple ZipLock bags and in coolers the day before. The sea breeze was strong enough to force us to move the burners around to the lee side of Dick Roth's bus...and away from the eating area. I feared that this would diminish the sociability, but, "No worries, Mate!". Here's the eating area between Dick's and Debra's rigs.

          Here's our sheltered cubbyhole where I'm adding the dry spices to one of the pots.

     Soon everyone had dragged their chairs around to where the "boil" was being assembled. Everyone had a piece of the action. Below, Dick is adding some onions.

     Here you can see that the group gathered 'round to join in.

     Here goes the first ingredient after the spices: potatoes.

     After fifteen minutes we add the sausage.

     Five minutes later, in goes the corn.

     After another ten minutes, the shrimp goes in for three to five minutes until pink.

     We drained the baskets and poured/ladled the contents onto four trays...one for each table.

     There were very few leftovers. Plates or no plates, everyone just grabbed what they wanted.

     If you liked these pictures, I did not take a single one. Allow me to thank Wendy Boucher for all the great shots. As you can see, Frogmore stew, properly done, is a very sociable event. Everybody participates. Great fun.