Shrimp Boil

First things first, let's give credit where credit is due.  Alice Hyde shared this recipe with my mom years ago, and it has become a very special event in our family.  I say event because it truly is a spectacle.  After boiling onions, potatoes, corn, chicken, sausage, and shrimp together in a giant pot, everything is poured steaming hot into the middle of a newspaper-covered table.  There are no utensils; you eat with your hands like a caveman.  Additional items that we like to place on the table include hot crusty bread, cocktail sauce, salt (we just put out the entire salt container and let guests pour a tiny pile to take pinches from), and several rolls of paper towels to use as napkins.  The fun, rustic feel of this meal is appealing to adults and especially to kids.  It only takes about an hour to cook once everything is prepped and the water is boiling.  And the best part?  When the meal is done, you can just roll up the paper and throw everything away!

Unless you have a very big pot, I recommend dividing this recipe between 2 separate pots to avoid messy boil-overs.  If you don't like spice, then leave out the cayenne and tabasco.  Be advised that once you add the spices, you will want to have plenty of ventilation. 

Shrimp Boil

**Plan to start the shrimp boil 51 minutes before you want to eat (60-65 minutes for high altitude.)   This recipe feeds 8 people comfortably, and more if you have kids or light eaters in your group.

To a large stock pot (or 2) add:

2 gallons water

1 cup salt

2 T. Zatarans liquid seasoning

2 t. Zatarans dry seasoning

1 t. red cayenne pepper

2 t. Tabasco

2 lemons cut in half and juiced into the water

2 bell peppers quartered

12 small boiling onions

2 lbs. sausage cut into small pieces  (Ekrich type)

-Bring all of this to boil for 20 minutes (probably 30 to 35 minutes for high altitude folks)

Add to the pot:

12 pieces of chicken of your choice

12 small new potatoes

-Boil for an additional 15 minutes- then add or until potatoes are done

Add to the pot:

 12 ears of small frozen corn

-Boil for 12 minutes add

Add to the pot:

2   1/2 pounds of shrimp with shell on

- Boil for only 4 minutes or less or until they are bright pink

Pour into a colander to drain and serve in the middle of a table covered with a thick layer of newspaper.

Jack Miller's Pheasant Gumbo

Billy Attebury, Roy Jarnigan and Jack Miller
Dalhart Pheasant Hunt Dec. 4th 2010

QUAIL, CRAB and ANDOUILLE GUMBO RECIPE – JACK MILLER

This recipe was actually learned during an afternoon spent with
Cristy’s father in Dauphin Island, Alabama.  Sonny Smith taught me the
fine art of making a roux with bacon fat and flour in an iron skillet.
45 minutes of stirring and adjusting heat might produce a dark savory
roux or a burnt heap of hot nothing.   I have gone to making the roux
in the microwave.  The result is much more consistent and the dark
color is easily fine tuned to perfection.  Sorry Sonny.  However, the
rest of his recipe is spot on.
30 or 40 Quail breasts filleted.  Pheasant, chucker, or most any other
game bird can be used
1 lb. crab claw meat.  Canned is O.K.
One stick Andouille. Skinned and cut into ½ inch chunks.  The best
Andouille in the world comes from Jacobs in LaPlace, La.
http://www.cajunsausage.com/    (Polish sausage can be a substitute,
but will not achieve the true Cajun smoky flavor)
1 cup bacon fat or cooking oil
1 ¼ cup flour
1 lb. Okra.  Frozen is O.K.
1 bunch celery chopped
1 bunch green onions chopped
2 medium yellow onions chopped
5 cloves garlic chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 bunch parsley finely chopped
Salt, pepper and Tony Chachere seasoning
THE ROUX (microwave)  - Start with 1 cup of bacon fat, if you have it,
if not, 1 cup cooking oil.  In a large pyrex measuring cup (4 or 8 cup)
stir in 1 ¼ cup flour till smooth.  Put in microwave for 5 minutes on
high.  It’s now hot as hell.  Be careful.  Remove carefully and stir
with a wire whisk till smooth.  Now cook at 30 second intervals,
removing and stirring.+  It will get progressively grainy, that’s O.K.
Just stir and recook fo 30 seconds until you get a good deep caramel
color.  If you burn it start over, there is no saving it.
Move roux to a heated 8 qt. soup pot
Stir in celery, onion, bell pepper and garlic, cook stirring often till
veggies are tender
Slowly stir in 1 qt. water then add okra, parsley and green onion
Let steep for 5 – 10 minutes then add quail, crab and andouille

Add water to fill pot or properly thin mixture

Slow boil for two hours

Season to taste with salt, pepper and Tony’s

Serve over rice with a pinch of Gumbo file on top

I think gumbo is best served the next day after it is prepared.  The
flavors have time to meld.

LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULER!