2016 brought one of the best St. Johns River recreational shrimping seasons in recent memory. With gallons of shrimp in the freezer I have been experimenting with many recipes. This one — I call it a Low Country Broil — is a faster, easier, and less messy version of a traditional Low Country Boil that works well for 2-6 persons. Notice the "r" in the name — the ingredients are not boiled in a pot, but broiled in foil packets.
Start with an oiled piece of heavy duty aluminum foil about 1 foot square, fill it with food, and fold over the edges, sealing it up for cooking. Each foil packet serves one person and contains 6-12 shrimp (depending on size), 1/4 lb link sausage (kielbasa, anadouille, or any large, locally favorite link sausage) cut into "coins," 1 ear of corn (shucked and optionally halved), and 3 small red potatoes, halved. If fresh corn is not available, frozen corn on the cob will work, but the texture of the kernels is a bit mushy. The sausage is placed in the bottom of the oiled foil packet followed by the corn, red potatoes, and shrimp. The potatoes must be partly precooked for 4+ minutes in a microwave to give them a head start. A large pat of butter is placed on the corn, and everything is sprinkled with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Old Bay.
I preheat my gas grill on "high" while setting up the packets and then cook the sealed foil packets directly over the flames for 10 minutes, still on high. I usually grill with charcoal due to the better smoke flavor it imparts on foods, but in this case no smoky taste would be added to the flavor, because the foil packets are sealed up tight.
My gas grill is a small Weber 2000, so it does not get as hot as a larger gasser — anyone using a more powerful grill may need to dial back the heat a little bit. At the end of 10 minutes, I place the now sizzling packets onto paper plates, and we open them up and dig in — YUM!
The corn, potatoes and sausage make a great base for variations on this recipe. You can add whatever other meats you like, play around with different seasonings, and/or add a bit of wine to the packet (I usually do). I had great luck replacing the shrimp with a salmon fillet seasoned liberally with Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Salmon Seasoning. However, with a freezer full of bay scallops on hand in addition to the shrimp, I think I’ll try a shrimp and scallop combo next time.
Start with an oiled piece of heavy duty aluminum foil about 1 foot square, fill it with food, and fold over the edges, sealing it up for cooking. Each foil packet serves one person and contains 6-12 shrimp (depending on size), 1/4 lb link sausage (kielbasa, anadouille, or any large, locally favorite link sausage) cut into "coins," 1 ear of corn (shucked and optionally halved), and 3 small red potatoes, halved. If fresh corn is not available, frozen corn on the cob will work, but the texture of the kernels is a bit mushy. The sausage is placed in the bottom of the oiled foil packet followed by the corn, red potatoes, and shrimp. The potatoes must be partly precooked for 4+ minutes in a microwave to give them a head start. A large pat of butter is placed on the corn, and everything is sprinkled with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Old Bay.
I preheat my gas grill on "high" while setting up the packets and then cook the sealed foil packets directly over the flames for 10 minutes, still on high. I usually grill with charcoal due to the better smoke flavor it imparts on foods, but in this case no smoky taste would be added to the flavor, because the foil packets are sealed up tight.
My gas grill is a small Weber 2000, so it does not get as hot as a larger gasser — anyone using a more powerful grill may need to dial back the heat a little bit. At the end of 10 minutes, I place the now sizzling packets onto paper plates, and we open them up and dig in — YUM!
The corn, potatoes and sausage make a great base for variations on this recipe. You can add whatever other meats you like, play around with different seasonings, and/or add a bit of wine to the packet (I usually do). I had great luck replacing the shrimp with a salmon fillet seasoned liberally with Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Salmon Seasoning. However, with a freezer full of bay scallops on hand in addition to the shrimp, I think I’ll try a shrimp and scallop combo next time.
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