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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Shrimp Boil Salad (Guest Post)

Hey there FeauxReaders!  Today, I am thrilled to present you with a guest post from none other than my cousin Primo from New Orleans.  He dreamed up a delicious-looking warm (or cold) salad that I can’t wait to test out!

shrimpboilsalad

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I enjoy cooking. I enjoy challenges and experimenting with new recipes. I’m the kind of guy that watches shows like Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen, and other game-type shows on Food Network and honestly thinks he could do well.

For my company Christmas party, we decided to do a pot luck lunch. As we were divvying up the assigned dishes, I deferred to making whatever dish wasn’t claimed since I don’t have a “signature dish”. In my office, that translates to “I can only make *insert item here*” Low and behold, the category I ended up with was… SALAD. What a slap in the face. Not only do I feel like that’s a cop-out dish for any pot luck, but I’m a meat and potatoes guy that doesn’t normally like traditional salads.

I had to make a salad that not only wowed my coworkers but would also be something new and exciting for me. After a couple hours of pondering and a quick brainstorming phone call with Prima, (aka Ms. FeauxCajun, herself) the shrimp boil salad was born.

Ingredients:

  • Shrimp/Crab boil to taste (If you are unfamiliar with seafood boil seasoning, premeasured boil in bag versions are available at most grocers)
  • 3 pounds of baby red potatoes cut in halves or quarters
  • 1 pound smoked link sausage, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 pack of frozen corn on the cob (fresh Missouri/Iowa sweet corn on the cob would be best but it wasn’t available to me in Louisiana in December)
  • 2 pounds peeled beautiful Louisiana shrimp  (if you’re unable to buy fresh gulf shrimp, any fresh or even frozen [then thawed] UNCOOKED shrimp will probably work with this recipe)
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 3 tablespoons Creole mustard
  • 4 green onions, sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
  • 2 local beers (for the chef while cooking)

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Essential cooking tool.

Directions:

1. 1. Bring 10 cups water and boil seasoning to a boil in a large stock pot over high heat.

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2. Add potatoes and sausage; return to a boil, and cook 13 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

3. While your potatoes are cooking, combine lemon juice, EVOO, parsley, Creole mustard, horseradish, garlic, and paprika and whisk together well.

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4. Remove potatoes and sausage and set aside in your large salad bowl

5. Add corn to stock pot and return to a boil. Cook 3 minutes. Add shrimp; cover, remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

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Now THAT is a beautiful sight.

6. Drain and peel shrimp. Cut kernels from cobs. Discard cobs. Stir together corn kernels, shrimp, potatoes, sausage, and lemon juice mixture in a large bowl.

7. Serve hot or cover and chill to serve cold the next day.

NOTE: While this dish is fantastic fresh out of the pot, it is equally as fantastic served chilled. The flavors remain strong. I think the new twist on a COLD shrimp boil combined with the lemon juice dressing made for an unexpected surprise.

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