Frogmore Stew

Not really a stew at all, but rather a boil of potatoes, corn, shrimp and spicy-smoked sausage, frogmore stew is a very traditional Southern dish, indigenous to the Carolinas but common along the Gulf coast as well. Traditionally, all of the ingredients are boiled in heavily-seasoned water, strained and eaten family-style. My mom likes to make frogmore stew for dinner at the height of summer. It’s a great way to highlight the amazing corn available in July and August, and the heat in the dish can make even the hottest summer night seem cool by comparison.

My version of frogmore stew is a bit more refined than the original. To build my boiling liquid, I start with a base of chicken stock and water, which I slowly simmer with onions, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, herbs and spices until dark and heavily flavored. Because I put so much work into my boiling liquid, I figure it would be a shame not to serve it. So I serve individual portions of the corn, potatoes, shrimp and sausage in wide bowls with some of the boiling liquid ladled over.

I recommend Andouille sausage for this recipe. You can substitute another spicy sausage for the Andouille, but make sure whatever sausage you use is spicy enough to sufficiently flavor the boiling liquid. If using a milder sausage, add additional red pepper flakes to the broth in step 3. Similarly, I recommend using head-on shrimp for this recipe. The heads add great flavor and brine to the boiling liquid. If you’re not using head-on shrimp, consider adding some additional salt to the boiling liquid in step 4.

Serve with crusty bread and remember to put out an extra bowl for shells and corn cobs.

Frogmore Stew

Ingredients

2 pounds Andouille sausage, or other spicy sausage

2 large red bell peppers

olive oil

8 cups chicken stock

8 cups water

2 medium onions, peeled and halved end-to-end

1 large tomato, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks, or 1 16 ounce canned-diced tomatoes, drained

6 garlic cloves, smashed

10 sprigs fresh thyme

6 bay leaves

1 tablespoon whole black pepper corns

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

10-12 small new red potatoes, halved

4 ears corn, husks and silver threads removed and broken into 2-3 pieces each

2 pounds shrimp, shells and heads on

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and pre-heat oven to 425F. Poke each link of sausage several times with the twines of a fork, and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Lightly oil the peppers with the olive oil, and place on the baking sheet with the sausages. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, or until the peppers are beginning to blister and the sausages are deeply browned.

2. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the peppers and sausages to cool. When cool enough to handle, cut the sausages on the bias into 2-inch pieces and set aside. Cut each pepper into 6 or 8 pieces, making sure to remove any seeds, and set aside.

3. Put the chicken stock and water in a large stock pot, along with the onions, tomato, roasted peppers, garlic, thyme, bay, black pepper corns, red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Place over medium high and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for one hour, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.

4. Strain the boiling liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. Discard the solids. Taste the boiling liquid to make sure that it is heavily seasoned. Add additional salt as necessary.

5. Wipe out the stock pot and then strain the boiling liquid through a fine mesh strainer back into the stock pot. Straining twice will result in a cleaner liquid. The boiling liquid can be set aside at this point for several hours until you’re ready to prepare the stew.

6. Bring the liquid to a gentle boil over medium to medium-high heat. Taste the liquid again. If it seems over-reduced, thin it out with a little water. Add the potatoes to the liquid, partially cover the pot and boil for 15 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary to maintain a gentle boil.

7. Add the corn and sausage to the liquid, partially cover the pot and boil for 10 more minutes, or until the potatoes are fully cooked.

8. Add the shrimp to the pot and cook, covered, for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until the shrimp are just cooked.

9. Place one piece of corn in each of four wide bowls, along with a few pieces of potato, a few pieces of sausage, and several shrimp. Ladle a little of the boiling liquid over each bowl, and serve immediately.