Frogmore Stew Alaskan Style

Many years ago, when I was the wife of a Marine, I lived in Beaufort, South Carolina.  We had a lot of military friends who, like us, didn’t have any family around.  So, we became each others family. 

On weekends we would go to the beach and we’d cook a big pot of Frogmore Stew.  It didn’t have any frogs in it.  )  It was named for a small community there.  A typical Frogmore Stew would consist of a big pot of boiling water over a firepit seasoned with vinegar and other spices.  Today I use a store-bought seasoning–Old Bay TM. 

To the boiling water we would add whatever we’d brought.  It was kind of like making Stone Soup, but usually we had potatoes, corn on the cob, onions, sausage, chicken, and shrimp.  When it was done, we would drain the water, line a picnic table with newspapers, and then dump the contents of the pot out on the newspapers.  Everyone would sit around the table eating our way through the pile of meat, seafood and veggies.  If you like butter on the corn, put a stick in a Ziplock bag, throw an ear of corn in and roll it around.  Pass the bag for everyone to do the same (before they start eating the corn, of course).

While I was in Alaska recently, we did an Alaskan version of Frogmore Stew.  We had the same vegetables, but we added large tiger shrimp, chunks of halibut, and Alaskan King Crab legs broken into pieces to fit into the pot.  It was YUMMY!  If you’d like to try your own version, just add the items that take the longest first like the potatoes.  5 minutes later add the onions and sausage.  5 minutes after that add the corn, then the seafood.

Best wishes,

Diva Dolores