Louisiana Seafood Bake

I continue to be surprised by the countless people I talk to that tell me they don’t cook seafood at home. When I ask why, the answer is almost always the same. Many people don’t know how to cook seafood. Seafood is part of a healthy diet and most of all it is delicious.
One of my favorite family meals is a Louisiana style seafood boil. This typically involves a giant pot with seafood and other ingredients. One has to know how to time everything so that it comes out perfect. But this got me thinking, there has to be an easier way.
As manager of our Old Town Newhall and Canyon Country Farmers Markets, we host a wide array of food artisans and farmers. As we enter fall, sweet corn is absolutely superb and one of our favorite things from our farmers. Sweet corn is a key ingredient in a traditional seafood boil so we got to work on developing an easy recipe using this.
We also host a genuine fishmonger at our markets who brings some of the best seafood available to Santa Clarita every week. Health experts continue to recommend wild caught seafood. They carry a wide array of the best quality seafood available. Rounding out the protein for this dish, we also host a ranch that brings beef, pork, chicken and lamb to our market. We turn to them for our delicious andouille sausage. This sausage is smoked and ready to eat.
Instead of boiling all of the ingredients, we only boil the potatoes briefly. These take longer to cook and boiling them will allow them to be cooked with everything in one pan. After the potatoes are boiled, a simple sauce is made. All of the ingredients are added to a large rectangular baking dish. It is then simply baked and served.
For this recipe, we use shrimp. You can however use whatever seafood you want. Add some fresh fish, crab legs or even lobster tails. You may have to adjust cooking time by a minute or two depending on the size of the seafood you use. But the nice thing about baking is that it’s easy to pull a piece of seafood out and check for doneness.
A seafood boil is traditionally dumped onto newspaper and the center of a table. Everyone can then dig in and feast. If using shrimp, we recommend leaving the shells on the shrimp. Part of the fun of a seafood boil is the hands-on experience of peeling the shrimp.
Most of all, we can’t overstate how easy this recipe is. Give it a try yourself at home and surprise your family with your own seafood boil.

Ingredients

1.5 lb. Extra large (U-15 size) shrimp, deveined
with shells on or off (we like them on!)
1 lb Smoked sausage (preferably Andouille),
cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 lb. baby potatoes, cut in half
4 ears corn on the cob, cut in half
1 Cup butter
2 whole heads (not cloves) garlic, minced
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 cup Old Bay seasoning
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley, for garnishing
Salt to taste

Directions

Step 1 Preheat oven to 425. While oven is warming up, cut potatoes in half and boil until a fork easily pierces them (about 10 minutes). Drain and set aside.

Step 2 In a large glass pyrex or metal rectangular baking dish, place butter and put pan in oven until melted. Remove from oven when melted.

Step 3 Add garlic, spices, lemon juice and oregano to pan and stir well until combined.

Step 4 Add potatoes and remaining ingredients (except parsley) to pan and mix well until everything is coated with sauce. Space shrimp as much as possible so they are not touching each other.

Step 5 Place dish into oven and bake for 15 minutes. Shrimp cook fast and will be cooked when they turn pink with slightly brown edges. If you are using smaller or larger shrimp, you may need to adjust baking time by a couple minutes or so.

Step 6 Once baked, remove from oven and top with parsley. Toss everything to combine. Serve as a stand alone meal or add a simple salad.

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