What I had been most looking forward to of our now-cancelled trip to the US was a good seafood boil. I had planned for us to visit a few seafood places in San Francisco and had been checking out their menus. With international travel unlikely for some time, the closest I could get to that is to make my own. Creole seasoning isn’t sold commonly over here so decided to make my own. This is now going to become a staple for gatherings as it’s so easy to make.
Serves 6 (approx. 672 calories per serve)
Prep time 20 mins
Cook time 1 hour
Ingredients
Creole seasoning:
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
Seafood boil
½ stick salted butter
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
4 tsp Creole seasoning
250g smoked sausages
1 lemon, quartered
3L water
1kg crab claws
2 lobster tails (better if halved so it takes on more flavour)
500g prawn, tail on
4 corn cobs, cut in thirds
4 potatoes, halved
Creole butter sauce
½ stick salted butter
½ lemon, juice
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Creole seasoning
1 tsp paprika powder
Few sprigs parsley, chopped
Note: For bigger feeds, you may consider investing in this serious stock pot and strainer.
Mix the creole seasoning and set aside.
Melt the butter and sautee the onion and garlic until softened. Add all the Creole seasoning except for 1tsp for the butter sauce. Then add the smoked sausages until fragrant. Add the lemon and water and bring to the boil. Let it boil for 30 minutes.
Firstly, add the potatoes and let it boil for 10 minutes. Then add the corn, crab legs and lobster tails and cook for 10 minutes.
Finally add in the shrimp, turn the heat off and let it sit for a further 10 minutes.
While the seafood boil is sitting, make the sauce by melting the butter and stirring in all the ingredients (except the parsley) together in a small saucepan.
Strain the seafood from the pot and drizzle the sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve immediately.