Cajun shrimp boil is the good kind of messy

Pass the rémoulade.

View in browser|nytimes.com July 5, 2024 Samin Nosrat's Cajun shrimp boil. Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Frances Boswell. Prop stylist: Pamela Duncan Silver. Cajun shrimp boil with rémoulade for dinner, blueberry pancakes and maple sausages for breakfast By Sam Sifton Good morning. There's a spot way up in the back of the bay where the shore splits into a creek and the water runs fresh into salt. There are blue crabs there, Callinectes sapidus, beautiful swimmers, and soon enough they'll be big enough to trap and steam. They aren't yet, though, and so for a summer seafood boil on this first weekend after the nation's 248th anniversary of its independence from Britain, I'm dependent on local clams and lobster, or on wild-caught shrimp from Louisiana. That's better than fine. A seafood boil's a wonderful thing, and a Cajun shrimp boil (above) on a summer weekend is one of the great treats of the season — a road trip vacation in a pot, to serve on a table covered in newspaper (still good for something!). Serve with rémoulade and a super-basic coleslaw of shredded cabbage and carrots tossed with this excellent recipe for coleslaw dressing. Featured Recipe Cajun Shrimp Boil View Recipe → Too messy? Understood! Pivot instead to this fiery hot sauce roast chicken with a tangy kale salad, or to this lovely crunchy noodle and tofu salad. I'd consider, too, lamb patties with fried onions and tahini-yogurt sauce, with baba ghanouj and hummus on the side. Or maybe chilled cucumber soup with avocado toast? And what's a weekend without a proper breakfast: blueberry pancakes, say, with maple sausages and fried eggs? You could follow that with a long walk — down city streets or along suburban roadways, through the woods or along a beach somewhere — exercise that works off the feed and prepares you for a luncheon of jambon beurre and an afternoon nap. Then, for dinner, smothered pork chops with braised greens and rice, followed by cut watermelon drizzled with lime juice. You'll be living very well if you do that, whatever your mood, whatever the weather, wherever you live. If none of those recipes appeal, though, you can turn to New York Times Cooking for others — many thousands of them. It's true that you need a subscription to read them. Subscriptions make this whole enterprise possible. If you haven't already, would you consider subscribing today? Thanks. We're manning our inboxes, should you run into problems with the technology that supports our efforts to guide you toward the delicious. Just write for help. We're at cookingcare@nytimes.com and someone will get back to you. Or, if you'd like to write to me in pique or pleasure: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I cannot respond to every letter. But I read every one I receive. Now, it's nothing to do with marjoram or the proper way to grill flounder, but Sally Rooney has a new short story in The New Yorker, "Opening Theory," and you should read it so you can talk about it when it comes up over drinks in the next couple of days. Because it will. Here are two new poems from John Burnside, in the London Review of Books. There's something fantastic about discovering a restaurant that can transport you across decades, into the past. For John Kessler, writing in the Bitter Southerner, that restaurant is Miguel's French Continental Cuisine, in Siesta Key, Fla. Well-done duck. I'm in! Finally, to play us off, here's a new Towa Bird track, "Deep Cut." Here's the truth: "You're a story that I'll tell to my friends." Enjoy that while you're cooking and I'll see you on Sunday. IN THIS NEWSLETTER Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Seafood Boil By Lidey Heuck 1 hour Makes 6 servings Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Frances Boswell. Prop stylist: Pamela Duncan Silver. Rémoulade By Samin Nosrat 5 minutes Makes About 3 1/2 cups Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Coleslaw Dressing By Kay Chun 5 minutes Makes About 1 cup David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Hot Sauce Roast Chicken With Tangy Kale Salad Recipe from Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock Adapted by Alexa Weibel 1 1/2 hours, plus resting Makes 4 to 6 servings Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Crunchy Noodle and Tofu Salad By Hetty Lui McKinnon 20 minutes Makes 4 servings David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Lamb Patties With Fried Onions And Tahini-Yogurt Sauce By David Tanis 1 1/2 hours Makes 4 to 6 servings Evan Sung for The New York Times Chilled Cucumber Soup With Avocado Toast By Melissa Clark 15 minutes Makes 2 to 4 servings Karsten Moran for The New York Times Cornmeal-Blueberry Pancakes By Alison Roman 15 minutes Makes 4 servings Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. Get it in your inbox Sign up for The Veggie newsletter Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties. Get it in your inbox Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Cooking from The New York Times. To stop receiving Cooking, unsubscribe. 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