Frogmore Stew

Ingredients

• 4 quarts water
• 1 bottle (12 ounces) lager beer
• 3/4 cup Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 lemons, halved
• 3 pounds small red potatoes
• 2 pounds smoked sausage or andouille, cut into 2-inch lengths
• 8 ears corn, each broken into thirds
• 4 pounds large shell-on shrimp
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• Cocktail sauce and hot sauce, for serving

Before you cook

• Scrub the red potatoes and leave any smaller than a golf ball whole, halving the larger ones.
• Cut the sausage into 2-inch lengths and break the corn ears into thirds.
• Rinse the shrimp and drain them in a colander.

Steps

1. Pour the water and beer into a 16-quart stockpot and set it over high heat.
2. Add the Old Bay, salt and vinegar, then squeeze in the lemons and drop the halves into the pot.
3. Bring the liquid to a hard rolling boil, which takes about 15 minutes.
4. Add the potatoes and boil them for 12 minutes.
5. Add the sausage and boil for 5 minutes more, letting its fat season the water.
6. Add the corn and boil for 4 minutes.
7. Test a potato with a knife tip and keep boiling until it slides in easily.
8. Add all the shrimp at once and stir them under the surface.
9. Boil the shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes only, until the shells turn pink and the tails curl.
10. Kill the heat immediately so the shrimp do not toughen.
11. Drain the whole pot through a large colander in the sink.
12. Dump everything onto a newspaper-lined table or a couple of large sheet pans.
13. Drizzle the melted butter over the pile and dust it with a little more Old Bay.
14. Serve with cocktail sauce and hot sauce and let everyone peel their own shrimp.