The amount of crab and shrimp you need will depend on appetites and on how well your guests know each other. When you serve crabs in mixed company, even dear friends will shock you with their daintiness, but if it’s a family dinner, as ours is tonight, you might expect people to put away eight or ten crabs apiece. If crabs aren’t available, a seafood boil is equally delicious with just shrimp, especially if they are wild ones, still fresh enough to have their heads on.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4 to 8
Ingredients
Preparation
Fill a 20-quart kettle (if using a smaller pot, do this in two or more batches) about one-quarter full with water and bring to a boil. Add a bottle of beer and season generously with salt, Old Bay seasoning, yellow or brown mustard seeds, coriander seeds, whole dried chiles, and a few bay leaves. Add a head of garlic, an onion, and a few lemons—all sliced in half. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Toss in 2 pounds small whole potatoes and return to a boil. Add about 2 dozen blue crabs, and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. When the crabs stop moving, about 4 minutes, sprinkle them with more Old Bay to taste. Add ears of shucked corn on top of the crabs, cover, and steam until it is nearly done, 4 to 5 minutes. Last, add 3 pounds fresh shrimp in their shells, seasoning them in the pot with salt and another generous sprinkling of Old Bay, and cover. When the shrimp are just pink and barely done, remove the pot from the heat and drain it. Cover a sturdy table with newspaper and pour the seafood, potatoes, and corn directly onto it. Pass bowls of melted butter, lemon wedges, more Old Bay, a few small mallets, crab crackers, and picks.
