Cooking
Consider this your permission to go big this weekend.
Good morning. There’s a spot way up in the back of the bay where the shore splits into a creek and the water runs fresh into salt. There are blue crabs there, Callinectes sapidus, beautiful swimmers, and soon enough they’ll be big enough to trap and steam.
They aren’t yet, though, and so for a summer seafood boil on this first weekend after the nation’s 248th anniversary of its independence from Britain, I’m dependent on local clams and lobster, or on wild-caught shrimp from Louisiana.
That’s better than fine. A seafood boil’s a wonderful thing, and a Cajun shrimp boil (above) on a summer weekend is one of the great treats of the season — a road trip vacation in a pot, to serve on a table covered in newspaper (still good for something!). Serve with rémoulade and a super-basic coleslaw of shredded cabbage and carrots tossed with this excellent recipe for coleslaw dressing.
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Cajun Shrimp Boil
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Too messy? Understood! Pivot instead to this fiery hot sauce roast chicken with a tangy kale salad, or to this lovely crunchy noodle and tofu salad. I’d consider, too, lamb patties with fried onions and tahini-yogurt sauce, with baba ghanouj and hummus on the side. Or maybe chilled cucumber soup with avocado toast?
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