Skip to main content

Clams & Pasta on the Grill


I know I've been a bit MIA lately. It's not that I haven't been eating or cooking.  I've been busy. I went to California twice for work related things. I have to report on that too. I had some fantastic meals there. But until I get to that (if ever)...

I thought I might be able to get a little smokey-ness into the clams if I used the grill to cook my clam sauce. I'm not sure that it really worked but it did come out delicious.

1 T butter
1 shallot, minced
4 clove garlic, whole
2 dozen small clams*
1 - 1/2 c white wine
salt/pepper

1lb linguine
2 T parsley, chopped
Parmesan cheese

Start to cook pasta in boiing salted water. Place cast iron dutch oven on grill (or on stove top). Let it heat up a little and then add the butter. When it's almost melted add shallots, garlic, and a good pinch of salt.  Cook until fragrant. Add clams and pour enough wine so that the clams are almost covered. Close lid of grill or cover with pot lid. Let cook about 3-4 minutes. Take a peak and carefully start to removed opened clams to a bowl. Continue to move all the clams to the bowl. If any do not open discard. Put pasta into the dutch oven and then take all the clams that from the bowl and mix into pasta. Stir in parsley and serve with parmesan cheese.

Easy peasy - dinner in about the time it takes to cook pasta.

*Make sure you clean your clams before using. Place the clams in a bowl of cold salted water. Sprinkle about 1T corn meal over the top. Gently mix. Refrigerate for about 2 hours. Pour off  liquid and add ice to bowl. Put back into the refrigerator until ready to use. The cornmeal makes the clams spit out any sand or other gunk.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New Kid on the Block

So here's a picture of the new kid on the block. Ain't she a beauty? It's a Blomberg . They are fairly new to the US. They have been around in Europe for quite a while. I really liked the design. I've been dying to have a freezer on the bottom. With the old refrigerator I would constantly lose brain cells by hitting my head on the freezer will poking around in the refrigerator. It really makes sense to have the refrigerator on top - that is where you spend most of your time. When we bought the old one, it was an emergency situation. The prior one was leaking on the floor and was no longer cooling. Fifteen years ago the freezer on the bottom was just starting to get popular but we were in no situation to wait for delivery. We had to take what they had on hand. Now the freezer on the bottom is by no means unique. What is - is this freezer's design. There are 3 compartments in the freezer. I used to have a chest freezer in the basement and everything would get los...

Mr. Boston

Since we were discussing cocktails, I thought I would discuss Mr. Boston . The Sous Chef has his father's Mr. Boston and then the girls one year for Christmas got him the new version.  They are different enough that you need to keep both of them. We had once thought about working our way through the book but then decided that probably wasn't a good idea.  We have found some really tasty treats though. Old Mr. Boston/New Mr. Boston Here is one of them: Banana Foster (from New Mr. Boston) 2 scoops vanilla ice cream 1 1/2 oz spiced rum 1/2 oz banana liqueur 1 medium banana cinnamon Combine ingredients in blender.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into a large glass and sprinkle with cinnamon I guess there is one improvement with the new Mr. Boston - the index is a bit better. In the old version, you cannot look up the drink by name. You can only look it up by liquor - which doesn't really help you out if you don't know what is in say a grasshopper and just wa...

Almond & Jam Tarts

These are quite impressive looking but very easy to make - especially if you buy ground almonds. The really nice part is that you just press the dough into the tart pans. The only rolling is for the cut outs. Peach Jam Currant Jam Almond & Jam Tarts (Adapted from Bon Appetit ) Makes 2 tarts 7 oz (approx 2 cups) Ground Almonds or Hazelnuts* 4 1/2 c flour 2 1/4 t kosher salt 1 1/2 t baking powder 2 t nutmeg 1 1/2 c sugar 3 sticks butter 6 T heavy cream 3 egg yolks 1 t almond extract 1 Earl Grey tea bag 1 1/2 c apricot jam** 1 1/2 c plum jam** 2 t orange zest 1 egg 1/4 c raw sugar Mix almonds, flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg yolks, cream, and almond extract. Mix well. Gradually add flour/almond mixture and mix until combined. Divide dough into 3 equal parts, flatten 1 into disk and chill for at least 1 hour. Press the remaining two doughs into tart pans cover and chill....