My Great Grandfather, Gene Johnson, was famous for his seafood dinners in St. Augustine Florida in the 1920’s-60’s. His famous movie star patrons like Lucille Ball, Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, and Rosemary Clooney, would come from far and wide just to taste his magnificence. This is my version of our famous family heirloom recipe. This kind of recipe is also called a low country boil because of the variety of meat used to make the stock. Hope you enjoy as much as we do! I promise this to be the tastiest seafood boil you’ll ever have.
Ingredients
- 1 gallon of water
- 1 whole bottle of Seafood & Crab Boil seasoning
- 1 lb smoked turkey tails, or smoked hamhocks, or smoked neck bones, or smoked pigs tail, (or a combination of all)
- 1 lb Homestyle brand sausage (best flavored sausage mild) cut into 3/4 inch slices
- 6 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 lb of shrimp, de-veined, (shells wrapped in a piece of cheesecloth and added to stock for flavor)
- 2 lb crab legs (optional)
- 4 large stalks of celery cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 2 lb small potatoes
- 12 little ears of frozen sweet corn cut in half
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 large onion cut in half
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 1 lemon halved
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 sprigs fresh tarragon
- 3 tablespoons worschestire sauce
- 12 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon of Crystal’s Louisiana Hot sauce (or more to taste)
- 1 tablespoon The Spice King Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce (or more to taste)
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon Lemon Pepper Seasoning
- 1 1/2 tablespoon The Spice King’s Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon whole all spice
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
- fresh parsley as garnish
- thinly sliced scallions as garnish
Directions
- In a large pot, add water, smoked turkey necks or smoked meat, shrimp shells wrapped in cheese cloth, onion, and 1 bottle of Seafood & Crab Boil bring to a boil.
- Simmer for 45 minutes.
- When liquid reduces by half, whisk in cornstarch by taking 2 cups of the stock and mixing the cornstarch in the cup until smooth.
- Pour cornstarch slurry into pot with smoked meat.
- Allow to continue to simmer and add lemon, thyme, tarragon, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce.
- In a sauté pan, sauté sausage until golden brown.
- Remove sausage and add set aside.
- In the same skillet, add butter, remaining spices, garlic, celery bell pepper, hot sauces, etc., sauté for 5 minutes until fragrant.
- Add this mixture to the broth and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add potatoes, sauteed sausage, and corn.
- Simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Add shrimp and crab.
- Simmer until shrimp are opaque and crab has heated throughout.
- Gently stir or swirl pot to ensure everything is mixed evenly.
- Serve in bowls garnished with freshly chopped parsley, scallions.
- Serve with The Spice King's Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce, a side of rice or garlic banquettes, or freshly fried hush puppies.