CRAWFISH BOIL
4 cups salt, divided
40 to 45 pounds live crawfish, divided
5 (3-ounce) bags crab boil
2 (12-ounce) cans beer
12 heads garlic, peeled, quartered, and divided
10 onions, peeled, quartered, and divided
3 pounds new potatoes, skin on, scrubbed, and divided
12 ears corn, halved and divided
12 lemons, halved and divided
Fill ice chest with water and 2 cups salt, stir, and add crawfish. Purge for 40 minutes. Pour 12 gallons water into 20-gallon pot. Add remaining 2 cups salt, crab boil, and beer. Boil for 15 minutes. In basket insert, place half of garlic, half of onions, and half of potatoes. Place basket in water, and boil for 5 minutes. Add half of corn to basket, and return to boil. Drain crawfish from purging water; add half of crawfish to basket, and bring to rolling boil. Turn off heat, cover, and let soak for 10 minutes. Remove basket and dump contents onto newspaper. Add half of lemons. Repeat process in prepared water with remaining vegetables and crawfish.
Yield: 12-16 servings
Emily Hines, Indianola