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!