Frogmore Stew or Low Country Boil
Try a Very Basic Beaufort Stew and Get a Taste of South Carolina
If you've never heard of Frogmore Stew, you've not been to the islands off South Carolina. Even if you live far away, try out this easy version of Low Country Boil.
Richard Gay, owner of Gay Fish Company of St. Helena Island, is credited with coming up with Frogmore Stew. It does not contain frogs. It was named after the little town where Gay lived. Then, the post office cancelled service to Frogmore and just rolled it into Beaufort. Some people now call the the dish Beaufort Stew or Low Country Boil, but the die hards will always call it Frogmore Stew.
Richard has been on TV, one of the food or travel shows, making his famous stew which dates back to the 60s. If you ever get a chance to catch a rerun, it's a really fun show. Your mouth will be watering by the time they get the feast out on the picnic tables and dig in.
As with most delicious recipes, there are now a lot of versions of Frogmore Stew. When you've got a pot of water boiling, it's easy to get carried away and throw in all sorts of stuff. That's fine. This is a recipe that can be altered without killing the spirit of the idea.
Here's a real basic Frogmore Stew recipe that will introduce you to the dish and will get you started.
Carolina Low Country Boil (AKA Frogmore Stew)
- a big pot
- water
- crab boil (2 tsp per quart of water)
- 6 good smoked sausage links (sliced kind of thick)
- 15 new red thin-skinned potatoes
- 6 ears of fresh corn (cut in small rounds)
- 3 pounds fresh shrimp (unpeeled - heads on or off)
Directions:
- Fill a big pot with water. Add crab boil seasoning and bring to a boil. Play around with the crab boil. Some families like more (and a few less).
- Add the potatoes and sausage and let cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.
- Add the corn and cook 10 more minutes.
- Add the shrimp and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. The shrimp should turn an orange like color. Don't overcook at this point or the shrimp will be tough.
- Pour the water off the food. Get as much water off as possible, since it gets the newspaper wet when the Frogmore Stew is served.
- Cover picnic tables with newspaper. If it's windy, a little tape is helpful.
- Dump the Frogmore Stew on the newspaper and let everyone eat right off the papers.
- Obviously you'll want plenty of paper towels on hand.
After getting full on Low Country Boil or while you're pigging out, have some homemade ice cream cranking.
Old Fashioned Churned Ice Cream
Or, if you have kids at the party, let them make some Zip Lock Baggie Ice Cream.
