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Summertime Guide to Hosting a Low Country Boil

a simple summertime guide to hosting a low country boil supper for some summertime fun!

 

summertime guide to hosting a low country boil

 

 

Woo hoo!! Happy Summer! I’m back and ready for more Sweetpea Lifestyle! If you haven’t noticed, I like to take rather large breaks every now and then from blogging. This gives me a chance to see what is really working for me, what posts are still viewed, what people come back for over and over, etc.

 

My supper club hosted a great Low Country Boil at the end of July, and I want to share with you how EASY and fun it is to do yourself! In honor of Steel Magnolias, and the south, this night couldn’t have been more fun. We ended with dancing and singing at the top of our lungs… I’m sure the neighbors weren’t thrilled… 😉

 

summertime guide to hosting a low country boil

 

Here’s your Summertime Guide to Hosting a Low Country Boil

There’s a few essentials for a Low Country Boil —

  1. A rather large pot
  2. Gas burner
  3. LOTS of newspaper

 

summertime guide to hosting a low country boil

 

In addition to those three things you need:

  1. Red skinned potatoes — preferably small ones
  2. Fresh corn on the cob – broken in half or smaller
  3. Vidalia Onions
  4. Smoked Sausage – traditional is andouille sausage, but we used smoked turkey sausage!
  5. Shrimp

This party is perfect for opening your home and inviting others in. Ask them to bring one or more ingredients for the boil — this helps involve everyone, helps you, and answers the age old question “what can I bring?” <— a question I am TERRIBLE at answering… Control issues, you know…. —>

 

This party is about as simple as it gets….

 

Line your table (preferably outdoorsy table) with LOTS of newspaper —  I also like to use plastic table cloths under the newspaper — it gets soupy real quick, so let’s protect that nice outdoorsy table as much as possible! 

 

If you are just serving the boil, no utensils are needed — just the fingers God gave us! 

 

I didn’t photograph every step… But, here’s an overview. It’s all about the heat from the gas burner and a timer.

 

  1. In your LARGE pot, combine an entire bottle of white wine (pinot grigio works well, something dry, and not sweet!), with 8 cups of water. Stir in 12 fresh garlic cloves, a bundle of fresh thyme, cut up lemons, and a Shrimp boil seasoning packet. Make sure your pot has a good fitting lid — you’ll need it. A lot. 

 

 

2. Wait for all of this to come to a violent, rolling boil. Once the water/wine is bubbling away, add in your potatoes, and set your clock for 20 minutes. Now, all the measurements below are for 14 – 16 people. If you are making a smaller batch, reduce your cooking time. 

 

summertime guide to hosting a low country boil

 

3. Once your potatoes are almost done (a fork doesn’t go all the way in, but getting close!), add your corn and onions. And for the love of all things southern, please only use Vidalia onions…. That’s part of summertime southern culture, mmm’kay?!

 

4. Now that the corn and onions are added, put the lid back on and set your timer for 10 minutes.

5. After ten minutes, give the whole pot + lid a shimmy shake. Add in your cut up smoked sausage and set your timer for another 10 minutes.

 

You’ll start to doubt how much liquid is in this pot, and you’ll be dying to add some more water… DO NOT. While the name says boil, it should really be called a steam. But, that doesn’t sound very appetizing does it?? 

 

Next up is your shrimp! A note about the shrimpies… 

 

Our 6.5 pounds of shrimp took almost ten minutes to cook — and no, they were not overdone — they were perfect! But. going in, some were still frozen… So! Just keep a watch on these little babies. 

 

I have a major disdain for shrimp veins, so I purchased the EZ peel shrimp that are deveined from Harris Teeter. 

 

6. Add your shrimp to the pot, put the lid on, and give the whole thing a big shimmy shimmy shake shake. Set your timer for 2 minute increments, then lift the lid slightly and look at the color of the shrimp. When the shrimp turn pink, they’re done!

 

Scoop everything out on to your newspaper lined table, and eat!

summertime guide to hosting a low country boil

 

summertime guide to hosting a low country boil

 

We served this meal with a light spinach salad, lots of bread, and several dipping sauces. Our dear friend made dessert, which was Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa from my pal Truvy in Steel Magnolias, thanks to PW for writing the recipe out…

 

Here are the quantities of exactly what to buy… This is for 14-16 people — purchase accordingly!

bottle of white wine
8 cups water
8 lemons quartered
12 cloves fresh garlic
bundle of fresh thyme
3 pounds small red potatoes 
12 ears of corn, cut in half
6 vidalia onions, quartered
4 pounds sausage, cut into 3 inch pieces
7 pounds shrimp 
  
 
 
 

 

Don’t forget to save this to your favorite Pinterest board! 

summertime guide to hosting a low country boil

 

How do you do low country boil?

Have a wonderful weekend, Cheers, Sweet Friends!

sweetpea lifestyle

 

The Pin Junkie

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14 Comments

  1. What a fabulous post! I live in Savannah, GA, and low country boil is a staple of summer entertaining. We had it in July when our adult children and grandchildren were visiting from NYC. It just wouldn’t be coastal GA in the summer without low country boil.
    Carol (“Mimi”) from Home with Mimi

  2. Reading your post made me homesick for Charleston! We lived there for 10 years and always had a good time getting together with friends and family for a Low Country boil. Thanks for linking up to the Ultimate Pinterest Party last Friday! Can’t wait to see what you share again this week.

    1. Thanks for stopping by! I love Charleston — grew up vacationing at Wild Dunes since I was a little girl!

  3. I love the party plan and a Low Country Boil looks great. Looks like you had a really fun party with fabulous food! Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

  4. Hubby and I attended a fish boil about 5 years ago while vacationing in Wisconsin. I loved it and think it would be so fun to host one in our backyard! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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