Clams

[BrazenAmateur]

I love clams. I love them fried, I love them steamed, I love them in a "crab boil", et cetera.

Problem is, I'm not terribly familiar with the myriad ways of cooking them, as I don't do it often.

Sure, there are thousands of recipes out there on the intarwebs, but I've found that only about 15% of them are worth anything.

Anyone here have any favorite methods of cooking clams? Any kind is fine (i.e. littleneck, razor, etc), and any preparation would be welcomed.

I want to start eating them more, but I don't have many ideas on what to do with them.

 

[QSis]

Have you tried linguine with either white or red clam sauce?

How about good old Clam Chowder? New England style is a white, creamy chowder. Manhattan style is red, with tomatoes (I think).

Lee

 

[BreezyCooking]

We like them steamed with melted lemon butter (both hard-shells & soft-shells); grilled hard-shells just until they open - again with melted lemon butter; & in pasta sauces (I prefer the "white" sauces. And of course - also love chowders, & in the case of really fresh hard-shells - raw!

 

[Lefty7887]

I love clams too, but all my friends make them so I never do. The only one I know is to make steamers, you throw in some water and a can of beer steam the for ten minutes (once the water boild again) and serve with drawn butter and ice cold beer. A frined of mine makes great fried clams, I think its just egg wash & flour and breadcrumbsthat he uses before frying in his frydaddy. My favorite of all time is clam cakes, but I have get the recipe for that too.

 

[QSis]

Ohhh, clamcakes! Good one, Lefty! With baked beans!

Lee

 

[Zereh]

I made this again the other night to rave reviews. It doesn't get much simpler than this either:

Zuppa di Cozze (Mussel Soup)

• 2 pounds mussels or clams
• 1 onion
• 8 garlic cloves
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 4 large ripe tomatoes
• ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
• 6 basil leaves
• pinch crushed red chili pepper
• extra virgin olive oil as needed
• freshly ground black pepper
• sea salt
• bread for bruschette

1. Wash and scrub the mussels, removing the beards and any material attached to the shells.
2. Slice and dice the onion into small pieces. Slice the tomatoes in half, gently squeeze the seeds from them, and then coarsely chop.
3. Place a large pot on the range over moderately high heat, add ¼ cup of olive oil, the diced onions, at least 4 garlic cloves, and let cook for several minutes until the ingredients begin to wilt. Add the wine, tomatoes, ground black pepper and, if desired, add the chili pepper, then the mussels. Cover the pot and steam for about 15 minutes, stirring the bottom shells from time to time to ensure they are evenly cooked.
4. When the mussels have finished cooking, stir in the chopped parsley, place the mussel soup in individual bowls and place two slices of bruschette on each bowl, and serve.
5. <Bruschette> Diagonally slice about 12 pieces of bread, preferably from a baguette or long Italian loaf, and toast. Slice a garlic clove in half, rub each slice of toast with the garlic, then drizzle some olive oil on each slice. This will use up about 4 large cloves.

I didn't use fresh tomatoes since the ones at the store looked rather sorry, I just threw two cans of fire-roasted tomatoes in and smooshed them up against the side of the pan to break them up into smaller chunks. I used closer to three pounds of clams so increased everything a bit and added more wine as well to make sure there was enough juice. And I'd definitely add the crushed chili flakes as the added heat makes this all the more flavorful!


Z

 

[pacanis]

That's pretty similar to this recipe, Zereh Mojo Moulies Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network
I made this a couple months ago and it was pretty good.

Shoot. Aren't the attachments working? I can't get the pic in.
There's a pic of them in this thread

 

[marigeorge]

I make white clam sauce for pasta with canned baby clams.....I live in the midwest, would you trust fresh clams when you are thousands of miles from the ocean....not this girl!

Pacanis, love your avatar!

 

[BreezyCooking]

Actually, fresh bivalves are one of the few fresh seafood items you CAN trust, because it's easy to tell if they're alive & thus fresh - unlike other seafood items. Plus, treated correctly, they remain fresh & alive for quite awhile after harvest.

If they're tightly closed when you buy them (or close tightly after a light tap on the shell), they're tagged with their place of origin, & you discard any that don't open while cooking, you're safely good to go.

 

[Jeekinz]

Here's how I make clams.

I still need to try adding the chorizo as Ironchef suggested. The white wine and thyme is awesome with clams.

Don't forget the toast!

 

[expatgirl]

goodness.......wrong time to be on this thread........y'all are making my intestines contract with hunger........Zereh, thanks for going to the trouble of posting your recipe.....sounds yummy..........I also add clams along with artichoke hearts to my spaghetti which is really a variation of linguine with red clam sauce........

 

[AllenOK]

Ok, I have two recipes, but they basically result in the same dish.

Once a month, at work, we have a "Seafood Extravaganza". One of the dishes I have to make is Steamed Clams, and the Chef wants a garlic butter sauce on top of it. I actually use a whole bunch of julienned shallots, and a good amount of garlic. I'll saute those in a little clarified butter. Once they just barely start to caramelize, I hit the pan with some white wine, lemon juice, and a pound of whole butter. I stir that around until everything is hot and the butter has melted. That goes into a container and into the hot box. When I'm ready to cook the clams (about 40 minutes or so before the buffett starts), I dump the bag of clams into a steam pan, rinse them with cold water, put a 2" hotel pan under the steamer pan, and transfer the whole lot to the pressure steamer. I put the pans in, with the steamer pan about 2" above the hotel pan, so that the hotel pan catches all that lovely clam juice. Seal the steamer up, and steam for 10 minutes. To serve, I just carefully remove the hotel pan with the clam juice, add the cooked clams to the clam juice, and pour the butter sauce over the clams. Garnish with some freshly chopped parsley or chives, and out to the buffett it goes.

Most of the members will only eat a few of the clams, so when we pull the buffett, I always get a large bowl of these and snag some bread. DINNER!

I've been wanting to make this into a special item or a menu item. I was thinking I'd start in a similar method, with about 2 T of julienned shallots and a teaspoon or so of minced garlic. Saute in clarified butter until they fragrant. Splash in some white wine, lemon juice, and the clams, bring to a boil, and cover. Cook until the clams open. Uncover, remove the clams, and add some cooked linguine to the broth. Bring that back to a boil, and add a couple tablespoons of whole butter. Toss and roll until the butter melts. Pour the mass (or is it mess?) into a large bowl, and arrange the clams on top. Garnish with fresh parsley or chives, and maybe a lemon twist. Serve with a plate of freshly-toasted garlic bread. You will probably want to have another empty plate or bowl to put the clam shells. A nice cold beer, or a glass of white wine, and I'd be one HAPPY camper.

Man, I'm getting hungry again, and I just ate breakfast!

 

[Easton]

Do clams take longer to open than mussels?

I just made a dish last night of clams and mussels and the clams never opened. I might have cooked them for about 5 minutes on high heat.

 

[BreezyCooking]

In my experience over the years - hard-shell clams definitely take longer to open than soft-shell clams & mussels.

I cook my shellfish in about 1"-2" of water & white wine along with some herbs, garlic, etc., over medium-high heat. Mussels & soft-shell (aka "steamer") clams usually take about 5-10 minutes; hard-shell clams about 10-20 minutes depending on their size.

 

[ChefJune]

Do clams take longer to open than mussels?

I just made a dish last night of clams and mussels and the clams never opened. I might have cooked them for about 5 minutes on high heat.

You need to be a bit more patient. Depending upon how many are in the pot, I always give clams and mussels a minimum of 8 to 10 minutes steaming time. Generally use a covered pan, and shake it to allow the ones on top to get close to the heat source.