It happens every year. As the school
days dwindle, I begin dreaming of summer...the fabulous trips
we'll take, the places to explore, the lazy afternoons by the pool,
reading and playing, the late-night Scrabble marathons, and the
enrichment activities that will keep our brains fresh.
And then, suddenly, it's July 24, and
I'm panicked. School begins in less than a month.
We haven't even planned our vacation.
Granted, we've been busy. I went to San Francisco with the Garden Bloggers' Fling--and I will write about those fabulous, awe-inspiring gardens soon. The kids
attended camps—lots of camps. Zoo camp, sailing camp, Humane
Society camp, plus Mikey added a Lego camp to his line-up. In fact,
we probably scheduled too many camps, but the kids really wanted to
attend these camps. Mikey tried to add a science camp—but I put my
foot down. After all, the kids need to swim and play and just be
lazy. It's summer, for goodness' sake! Then, Peter's parents arrived
from Switzerland on July 9 and left yesterday. Needless to say, it's
been crazy.
My vision of summer never
matches our reality. I've blamed the torrential, non-stop rain. Or
maybe it's the fact that Peter and I aren't very good at just doing
nothing...which, in my daydreams, is really what I envision for
summer. A chaise lounge by the pool, frosty drink at my side, book in
hand, while our sweet children swim and play quietly together.
(Our neighbors will attest that
“play quietly” is an oxymoron, at least applied to our kids.)
There is one thing, though, that always
lives up to my summertime expectations:
Frogmore Stew.
Now, fear not...no frogs are harmed in
the making of this classic southern dish.
Also known as Beaufort Stew, Lowcountry
Boil, or Shrimp Boil, this one-pot dish is, for me, the essence of
summer.
Fresh from the field sweet corn.
Succulent shrimp. New potatoes, just harvested from the garden. And
the bonus? Just one pot to wash. Truly, an easy, delicious,
finger-licking good dinner best served with an icy beer.
For
the history buffs, Frogmore Stew originated in the
Frogmore community on St. Helena Island near Beaufort. However,
versions of Frogmore Stew exist throughout the coastal regions of the
south. Some folks say that the dish is really just a compilation of
whatever the fishermen's wives had on hand to throw in the pot.
Personally, I like to add a little brightness to the traditional mix
of corn, shrimp, and sausage by adding colorful sweet peppers to the
pot.
Plus, the peppers soak up the spices
and add a little surprise heat to each bite.
The hardest part of Frogmore Stew is
peeling and deveining the shrimp. It's a nasty, time-consuming job,
but I love shrimp—so it's worth it.
(I remember once when I was about 11 or
12, my dad bought five pounds of fresh shrimp while we vacationed at
the beach. We had to peel and devein 5 pounds of shrimp, which took
ages. I'm sure, being a preteen, I made the appropriate gagging
sounds while I took out the veins. After it was clean, he boiled it
for a couple minutes in salted water and chilled it to make shrimp cocktail. For
years afterwards, he always shook his head and reminisced about how
long it took us to clean that shrimp—and how we all devoured it in
less than five minutes.)
Last week, during my in-laws visit, I
thought it would be fun to serve them a traditional southern dinner
and dessert: Frogmore Stew and Peach Crisp. The Peach Crisp, usually
a no-fail staple in my dessert repertoire, didn't crisp—it looked
more like peach soup. The Frogmore Stew, however, turned out almost exactly
as planned. I posted a photo on my Facebook page, and several people
asked for the recipe. Here, for your taste of a southern summer dish
from a former Yankee girl, is my variation on Frogmore Stew:
Frogmore Stew
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined. (We're lucky to have a vendor at Hub City Farmers' Market that sells fresh South Carolina shrimp...divine!)
- 3 lbs. Kielbasa, cut into 1-inch slices (most recipes call for a spicier sausage, but my family isn't crazy about heat)
- 4 lbs. red new potatoes, washed, skin on
- 2 medium onions, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch sections
- 3 large sweet peppers, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch slices (I use red, orange, and yellow to add color)
- 10 ears sweet corn, shucked and cleaned, broken in half (It makes it easier to fit into the pot.)
- 1 3-oz. bag prepared shrimp and crab boil spices (I use Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil in a Bag)
Directions:
- Fill a large stock pot half-full with water. Add the bag of spices and bring to a boil.
- Add potatoes, onions, and sausage. Boil for 10 minutes.
- Next, add the corn and peppers. Boil an additional 8 minutes.
- Finally, add the shrimp and cook until pink, about three minutes. Don't overcook the shrimp.
- Drain immediately and serve with sides of butter for the corn and cocktail sauce for the shrimp, if you like.
(The meal feeds about 8 adults.)
FYI: If you have a ventilation hood on
your stove, run it while the pot boils. The spices tend to make my
eyes tear, and I inevitably start coughing my head off. Maybe it's
just me, but it seems to help to have some ventilation while cooking.
Or I'm just a spice wimp.
I have to say, my in-laws looked
perplexed when confronted with the big bowl of food on the dinner
table. They were good sports, though. My father-in-law commented, in
his heavy German accent, that the mix of ingredients was “strange”
to them. They had never eaten sweet corn!
Can you imagine? What is summer without
sweet corn?
Strange or not, everyone seemed to
enjoy Frogmore Stew.
Except our picky children, of course.
But that's OK. Because for a moment,
eating my share of two pounds of shrimp and several cobs of sweet
corn, it finally felt like summer.
Remember I said that the Frogmore Stew was "almost" as expected?
After we all finished eating, I suddenly remembered that I forgot to add the potatoes.
In fact, I never got them out of the pantry. Oops.
No one seemed to suffer from lack of potatoes, fortunately.
Now, it's time to book our vacation.
We're thinking of taking the kids to Florida, somewhere along the
Gulf, to snorkel. While I love South Carolina beaches, the water is too murky for snorkeling. Any good snorkeling beach recommendations?
Only 26 days until school resumes.
Sniff.
I think we'll need another Frogmore Stew before school begins.
Happy summer!
XOXO ~
Julie
Shared with Wildcrafting Wednesdays and The Backyard Farming Connection.
