SEAFOOD BOIL SEASONING BAG RECIPES

Steps:

• Fill a very large stockpot fitted with a basket insert with about 8 quarts of water, or about halfway full. Squeeze lemons into the water, tossing the halves in too. Add onions, chiles, thyme, garlic, 1 2/3 cup seafood seasoning, 6 teaspoons kosher salt, and bay leaves; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Stir potatoes into the pot and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Next, add the sausage and corn; cook another 5 minutes, making sure everything stays covered with the liquid. Add the clams and boil until they open, about 8 minutes. Toss in the shrimp and shut off the heat. Cover the pot and let the shrimp steep in the flavor for 10 minutes, adding the crab in the last 5 minutes (press them into the liquid).
• Drain and spread the crab, shrimp, sausage, clams, corn, potatoes, and onions out on a newspaper-covered table or on 3 large serving trays. Sprinkle with a dusting of Old Bay® or provide for individual use.

Steps:

• Fry the onion in the oil in a 16-inch paella pan until soft, stirring often. Stir in the garlic, and before it begins to color, add the tomatoes. Add the sugar, salt to taste, pimentón (or paprika), and saffron, stir well, and cook until the tomatoes are reduced to a jammy sauce and the oil is sizzling. Add the squid and cook, stirring, for a minute or so. Add the rice and stir well until all the grains are coated. (You can prepare the dish to this point up to an hour in advance.)
• Bring the stock and wine to a boil in a saucepan. Pour over the rice, bring to a boil, and add salt to taste (even if the broth tastes a bit salty, it will not be salty when it is absorbed by the rice). Stir well and spread the rice out evenly in the pan (do not stir again). Cook the rice over low heat for 18 to 20 minutes, moving the pan around and rotating it so that the rice cooks evenly. Lay the shrimp on top after 10 minutes and turn them when they have become pink on the first side. Add a little more hot stock toward the end if the rice seems too dry and you hear crackly frying noises before it is done. When the rice is done, turn off the heat and cover the pan with a large piece of foil.
• Steam the mussels with a finger of water in a pan with a tight-fitting lid. As soon as they open, they are cooked. Throw away any that have not opened.
• Arrange the mussels on top of the paella.