15 February 2010

I'm home for President's birthday celebrations today.  With the babes.  She is napping, and I'm taking this recess to dissolve my mind online rather than do the dishes and maintain personal hygeine.  I'm severely disappointed that TLC saw it fit to run Cake Boss marathon instead of Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby. Rachael Ray just had the Jersey Shore girls on and gave them a make-under.  They look better as hoes.  Some of us just do.

Anyway, how about a recipe?  I doubt anyone will try it unless you are a fan of clams.  I never would have given them a chance had I not been confronted into trying them and then, after a few, discovering their appeal.  This recipe is the first clam recipe I ever tried [aside from chowder].  A friend of BJ's passing through town made it for us a few summers ago and BJ and I have worked it's magic on many house guests since. It has been met with similar sentiments.  We also incorporated it into our Valentine's Day dinner last night and it was spectacular.

Drunken Clams in a White Wine Cream Sauce

  Start with a handful of chopped green onions, roughly chopped fresh basil & fresh dill, and a clove of minced garlic.

In a large saucepan, melt a tablespoon of butter over low heat.  Throw garlic in and cook for a couple minutes.  Pour in about a cup of white wine.  [We usually do a $10 bottle -- don't go too cheap, but also don't be stupid and waste an expensive bottle.] 



Scrub clam shells off under water.  Gingerly place in saucepan.  Fill pan up with wine until half of the clam is submerged.  Keep the heat between simmer and medium.  The clams will soon begin popping open to reveal the meat.  Throw in the herbs and onion at this point.  Allow to cook until all clams have opened, moving opened ones to the outer rim of pan and placing locked ones to the middle to facilitate cooking. 


 Pour a little wine over the clams to cool  Remove pan from heat for a couple minutes.  Pour in half & half.  This is the trickiest part, and I have screwed it up a couple times.  If the pan is too hot, the milk will curd.  Add a tiny bit to test and gradually add more until the sauce turns white [about a cup and a half].  Return to a simmer to warm pan back up for eating. 


We usually put a bamboo cutting board under the pan at the table so we can eat them straight out of the pan.  You can use a small fork to scoop the meat out, or, our favorite way is to scoop up the sauce with the shell and suck it out with the meat.  Discard the shell.  Have some bread nearby to soak up the sauce...it's the best part.  Last night was a rosemary olive oil loaf.  Yum!

Grocery List
  • 2 lbs. short neck or steamer clams
  • handful fresh basil
  • handful fresh dill
  • handful green onion
  • 1 tbsp. butter
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2/3rd bottle white wine
  • 1 1/2 cup half & half cream 

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

MMMmmmmm I love this recipe! and you are right, I wouldn't have believed it until I tried it MMmmmmmmm

About Me

My photo
I guess you're just what I needed.

About Me

My photo
I guess you're just what I needed.