Gulf Coast Shrimp Boil

[fifi]

Every year, on the first Saturday in May, a bunch of colleagues get together at a house on Tiki Island. The appetizer is boiled shrimp. Then we move on to grilled shrimp, fried fish, and chicken and beef fajitas. There is a crew of us that do the cooking. I am usually in charge of the shrimp boil. Other folks bring sides, desserts and whatever. There are normally about 80 folks at this shindig.

Last year, for the umpteenth time in a row, the shrimp were hard to peel. I immediately went into research mode. Where does one research a shrimp boil you ask? Why... On an eGullet thread, of course.

Yesterday was the moment of truth. Applying all I had learned, the heat was on... so to speak.

But, first to set the stage and mood.

Note that the cooking area is separated from where the ravening mob hangs out for safety reasons. The boil pot is set up and there is another grill off camera. I don't think you can see them but there are a couple of large fire extinguishers at hand. The tarp is a wind screen to keep the bisk southerly breeze from blowing out the flame. This area will also be used for frying fish, sauteing onions and peppers for the fajitas and for anything else that may come up out of the water.

This is a little shot of some of the ingredients, fish filets and some of the butterflied shrimp for grilling. (I will swear I did not notice the duct tape until I posted the picture in ImageGullet. Duct tape? WTF? Oh well... All of the other cooks are guys, after all.)

Then a little problem developed. As you can see, there is a storm abrewing. Now, this was to be a storm of epic proportions. After consulting the rather alarming radar on the TV and having received some cancellations due to flooding, leaking roofs and other sundry disasters, we decided to regroup. Some of the seafood largess was repackaged and put in the freezer but we weren't going to abandon the plan altogether. Plan B was about underway when we got this:

Holding on for dear life, we stubbornly carried on.

So, back to the shrimp which is the reason for this post in the first place.

Note that there aren't too many shrimp visible. I got to the table a bit late and the few brave souls had already decimated the shrimp population.

And the research paid off. Shells were easily removed with a pinch of the tail. I am sure that contributed to the rapid dissappearance of the shrimp.

So to summarize: Don't buy your shrimp too fresh. Bay shrimp right out of the water the first week in May have recently molted and the shells are too thin. Check them for nice firm shells and give them a raw peeling test before you buy. Previously frozen work well also. If you aren't on the coast, those frozen gulf shrimp from the big offshore boats are flash frozen on the boat and are probably fresher than anything else you can get anyway.

As it turned out, about forty brave souls showed up, we all ate too much, and the weather cleared out in time for the kids to do their pinata thing. There wasn't as much fishing and crabbing going on as usual but one of the kids did pick up the bait net and found about a four pound flounder inside! I missed getting a picture of that before it succumbed to the filet knife.

[Chris Cognac]

Looks like a great time...is Tiki island near Galvaston?...if so, I love that area, I would move there in a heart beat.....Rain would be nice about now as its 98 dgs here in L.A.....I am in search of a backyard pool for the kids to splash in while I grill the 1.5 inch thick New Yorks that I have had soaking in Rosemary, Garlic, Onions and Olive Oil for the past 2 days.....with some cold beers, grilled garlic bread, chicken and my famous mustard and maple syrup beans...its gonna be good....but some rain would be nice too!!!

[Mabelline]

fifi, I am quite sure that the shells peeled well this year because you caught them before they used the duct tape.....

[Mayhaw Man]

That storm looked pretty familiar, something like the one that dumped 12 inches on us Friday.

I saw that Tomball took a beating yesterday. I hope that you guys fared a little better than that.

Nice looking shrimp though. When you grill those butterflies do you skewer them or just throw them on the grill? I like to skewer them and put them in a fairly hot water smoker. They don't take long to cook and usually have just the right amount of smoke flavor.

[fifi]

This was a cold front that should have gotten to Louisiana the next day. We didn't get the beating that Tomball did but it was pretty wild.

The grilled shrimp go into these clamping shut baskets to be put on the grill. We had some that were marinated in pesto and garlic and another batch that was done with a light coating of Black Daniel's BBQ sauce. To my surprise, the Black Daniel's version was the favorite.

[Mayhaw Man]

Occasionally we will marinate for an hour or so in strawberry vinegar, chopped ginger, garlic, with come cayenne added for a little bam. Skewer them (or put them in your fancy schmancy basket ) and throw on the grill. Yes ma'am, that's good eating.

[Mayhaw Man]

edited because I am an idiot

[fifi]

Chris... Tiki Island is the last exit before the causeway to Galveston.

[Dana]

fifi--what's Black Daniel's????

[fifi]

Sorry. That is our shorthand for Jack Daniel's black label bourbon.

[franktex]

But...where's the crabs???

[fifi]

Uh... would you be out there crabbing in that weather?

Seriously, we do usually have crab lines out and the kids are fishing and crabbing. Anything caught gets fried or boiled. That flounder was caught just about time to go home so it found its way to a home broiler.

[theabroma]

Sorry there, Fifi. I found myself licking the screen. Pretty great tradition. How on earth did Tiki Island get its name?

Theabroma

[lovebenton0]

Sorry there, Fifi. I found myself licking the screen. Pretty great tradition. How on earth did Tiki Island get its name?

Theabroma

I've wondered that myself. Have a brother that lives there -- he doesn't know either.

With shrimp like that, fifi, you don't have to miss the crab!

We skewer our shrimp and lay 'em out on the smoker grill after a leisurely rest in lemon juice, garlic, hot chili powder (whatever chilies I have dried and ground from the garden), and ginger. Wrapping them in a lemon basil leaf and then pickled ginger is also good; they cook too quickly to burn the moist ginger wraps but it gets a touch smoky (pecan is our favorite) and it falls off before you peel them so you can eat shrimp and basil/ginger together.

We got that storm here before it hit you -- it was a hellraiser for sure.