Shellfish Boil

Photo: flickr user WordRidden

Ingredients

cup Mustard seeds

6 tablespoons Coriander seeds

cup Whole allspice seeds

cup Dill seeds

2 teaspoons Whole cloves

12 smalls Dried red chilies crumbled

(or 1 tbspn crushed red pepper)

16 Bay leaves

8 quarts Water

1 doz Small new potatoes scrubbed

2 lrgs Onions unpeeled, and halved crosswise

2 Lemons halved

cup Salt plus

1 tablespoon Salt

cup Cayenne pepper plus

1 tablespoon Cayenne pepper

1 lrg Garlic head halved crosswise

1 pound Andouille sausage cut 1" pieces

4 Fresh corn ears shucked, and cut into thirds

2 pounds Crawfish

5 pounds Crabs - (such as dungeness, blue, stone, king, or snow crabs)

2 Lobsters - (1 lb ea)

2 pounds Shrimp peeled, divined

2 dozs Littleneck, steamer, razor,

Pacific-littleneck or Manila clams

1 cup Melted butter warm

2 tablespoons Finely-chopped parsley

Preparation

Place the first seven ingredients in cheesecloth and tie with butchers twine. Put the seasoning bag, water, potatoes, onions, lemons, 1 1/4 cups of the salt, 1/4 cup of the cayenne, and garlic in a large stockpot. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover and boil for 15 minutes. Add the sausage, corn, crawfish, and crabs. Using a long handled spoon, stir around and press the contents of the pot down well into the water. Cover the pot and return to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon cayenne. Cover and let the boil stand for 10 minutes. Add t

Turn the shellfish boil on to newspaper. Serve with melted butter. Garnish with parsley.

This recipe yields 4 to 6 servings.