Cook Your Own Seafood Feast

Seafood is relatively easy to prepare, and it’s fun to gather the family around the table at your vacation home or condo for delicious, home cooked, seafood!

Always a crowd pleaser, shrimp is a popular choice. South Carolina has two shrimp seasons. The first runs from May through August, when smaller, brown shrimp are harvested. The popular white shrimp season begins in September and lasts through December. With a container of shrimp boil, a few lemons and cocktail sauce, peel and eat shrimp can be on the table in no time. Grouper, a popular, mild white fish, is in season from May through December. This fish is delicious grilled, fried or sautéed. With fish, the key is not to overcook. And don’t forget to include your favorite sauce.

There are so many places along our coast to buy fresh local seafood. Seven Seas Seafood, located at 3476 Hwy 17 Business in Murrells Inlet prides itself on seafood fresh from the Atlantic. (See ad on page 19). Or try any of our local seafood markets. Please support local fishermen!

To catch your own dinner, maybe try your hand at crabbing – cooking and eating crabs is a fun way to spend a day. While crabbing is best in the fall, crabs are in season all year long. Nets are widely available; you’ll need a bucket and a few chicken necks for bait. If this sounds like a lot, try a visit to Myrtle Beach State Park where rangers will help you get started and explain the crab fishing regulations – and all the equipment is available for purchase on site.

Stop and pick up all the extras at one of two Piggly Wiggly locations – at 122 Highway 17 in Surfside Beach and 1700 Kings Hwy in Myrtle Beach. (See ad on page 3).

Celebrating 36 Years • Open 7 Days a Week

843-651-1666 3476 Hwy. 17 Bus., Murrells Inlet sevenseasseafood.com

Peel and Eat Shrimp

2 or 3 pounds of fresh local shrimp (or as much as your family can eat!) Lemon wedges Shrimp boil seasoning, like Old Bay

Wash shrimp well, pat dry with paper towels and sprinkle with seasoning – not too heavily. Bring water to boil in a steamer pot, not deep enough to cover the steamer basket. Add shrimp and a few lemon wedges to the basket and steam for 5 minutes. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the cooked shrimp and serve as soon as you can handle it. If you don’t have a steamer pot, you can cook the shrimp in boiling water with the seasoning and lemon wedges put in the water before adding the shrimp. Drain and continue with the fresh lemon juice.