Gourmet White Wine Steamed Clams

Mmmm.... 

Impress your friends and family with your "gourmet-like" chef skills when creating these fabulously rich, yummy steamed clams.  So easy, so good, and pretty difficult to mess up. Perfect for a fall dinner party!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
• 2 cups + Good dry white wine, like a Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc.  This will make or break this meal - don't skimp! (or if you want to do 1/2 wine and 1/2 water that's okay too, just don't use bad wine)
• 1/2 - 1 large chopped yellow onion 
• 4-5 chopped fresh garlic cloves
• 1 large fresh chopped-diced tomato  (can use canned)
• 1/4-1/2 cup fresh chopped Italian Parsley
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 cup prepared pasta sauce - a little spicy is better; try Arrabbiata or a really good Marinara with a few red pepper flakes
• Ground Pepper to Taste
• Kosher Salt to Taste
• 2 lbs. fresh scrubbed Manila clams - the smaller the tastier!

Directions:
Melt stick of butter in large stock pot.  Saute the onions and garlic until soft in the butter, then add the tomato. Continue stirring and sauteing together while adding the parsley and the basil.  Add the pasta sauce, salt, pepper and then the wine. 

Bring to a slow simmer, then gently add in the clams.  Adjust with more wine, pasta sauce or water if clams are not swimming free in the broth.

Continue simmering with the pot covered.  Cook until the clams are steamed open, should only take 5-10 minutes.  **Throw away any unopened clams**

Serve up in a deep bowl with broiled Parmesan cheese toasties for dipping,  and of course, 

a glass of your favorite white wine!  Don't forget to have a little fun with your table setting.  Go a little nautical with charts and linen,  mix and match dinnerware, or use your special seafood flatware. My driftwood centerpieces are simply "washed-up" rope that I found at the beach in Pesadero and a collection of interesting driftwood.  Found the lantern at some hideaway antique store in Pescadero, could not resist it! 

Cheers to cozy fall days!

Compass Rose Glassware 

 

Duke's Famous Clam Chowder - YUM

But first a summer blustery walk on the beach on Alki Beach....

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Duke's Award Winning Clam Chowder

• 1 lb. Clams
• 1 1/2 cups clam juice
• 1 oz. clam base
• 4 strips of bacon 
• 4 oz. butter
• 2 cups diced celery
• 2 cups diced onion
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1/2 tsp majoram
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 cups diced red potatoes
• 1/2 oz. garlic 
• 2 Tbl. parsely
• 1 Tbl. dill
• 4 oz. flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream (secret sauce!)

Blanch diced fresh baby red potatoes in boiling water (until tender). Cool and hold separately.

Cook bacon in heavy bottomed saucepan until bacon begins to crisp.  Add butter, onions, celery.  Saute until tender.  Add flour, lower heat and cook for 7 minutes.  Mix and dissolve all clam base with clam juice in a separate bowl. Add clam juice and base mixture to pot.  Add dairy products. Add herbs.  Heat until almost boiling, blending with a wire whip.  Add blanched red potatoes and clams.  Simmer for 2-3 minutes. Cool quickly or serve immediately. 

Taste the chowder and realize that you have just made the best Clam Chowder on the planet.  Pour yourself a great tasting glass of wine to go with!

(recipe courtesy of Duke's Restaurants in Seattle)

Delish and served in an adorable "dinghy"! 

Oscar Night Clam Chowder

C'mon admit it - we all watched the Oscars last night.  Who wore the best dress, which actor was the most handsome, who wore the worst dress... who looked fabulous on the red carpet.... glamour, glamour and more Hollywood glamour!  My fave?  To tell you the truth, I thought Anne Hathaway was the best!  She just looks incredible in anything, has such a wide range of talent,  and had such a fun time presenting and making the whole show fun.  (picture courtesy of Yahoo)

So that we wouldn't miss a single second of the show, I whipped us up some incredible clam chowder - not your average clam chowder.  Average, New England clam chowder would have been just too blase' for Oscar night!

Inspired by Hog Island's Manilla Clam Chowder, with my own twist... No flour added,  using only fresh clams and veggies.

Serves:  6-8
Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound bacon 
• celery - 2 cups sliced.  I tried "red" celery last night - wonderful addition!
• 1 med. yellow onion, sliced
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• carrots - 1-2 cups chopped
• 2 T. butter
• 6-8 medium-sized Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered into bite-sized cubes.  DO NOT peel!
• 4-6 lbs of small Manila clams in the shell 
• 1 + cup Sauvignon Blanc white wine ( be daring like Julia!)
• 1 quart heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Wash clams in colander, make sure that there are no cracked or open shells.  Discard bad clams...

Step 2: Cut up potatoes, and place in stock pot with 5-6 cups of water - no salt.   Bring to a boil, cook until al dente.  Do not discard water!

Step 3: While the potatoes are boiling, in a second heavy-bottom pot melt the butter with the thyme. Render the bacon in the butter and thyme (over low heat, careful not to burn); once bacon is rendered add onions and celery, cook until vegetables are translucent. Add carrots and cook until bendable without breaking, then add the potatoes and 4 cups of potato water.  Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

 Step 4:  Add the Sauvignon Blanc (or other good white wine) and let simmer for just a few minutes for flavors to blend

Step 5: Add the whole, fresh scrubbed clams.  Put the stock pot lid on and simmer gently until the clams open.  

Step 6: Ladle into individual bowls and pour a little cream in each bowl.  Now you are ready to serve!

Voila'!  Pour a glass of the chilled Sauvignon Blanc and serve with a rustic loaf of bread 

and you have an elegant feast.  

Have a great Monday - 

Time for Clam Chowder - Manhattan Style

Can you believe it?? It was raining yesterday here in the Bay Area!

Perfect day to watch Giant's baseball, (they lost)  make some chocolate chip cookies (only so that I could have cookie dough to eat) and make some clam chowder. Thought we'd try something new, and make clam chowder with a red sauce, not the traditional New England cream sauce.  

Tom can vouch for it - he even had second helpings!


Clam Chowder in Red Sauce
Very simple recipe - here's what you need + a big pot!
1 pound of clams (or 2 cans of canned whole clams)
3-4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 yellow onion - chopped
2 stalks of celery - chopped
2 generous cloves of garlic chopped

3 potatoes chopped- I like mixing red and Yukon Gold, leaving on the skins for the best flavor

1 can of tomato paste

1 can of diced tomatoes (I like the ones with olive oil and garlic)
1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. marjoram

1 tsp. dried basil or 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil
4 cups of chicken broth
kosher salt and fresh ground to taste

Saute' onion, celery and garlic in olive oil. Give the veggies about 5-7 minutes to become translucent, then stir in the chopped potatoes.  Dump in the spices, the tomato paste and the canned tomatoes, give it all a  good stir, then add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, simmer gently until potatoes are becoming soft, about 10-15 minutes.  Add clams, if using clams in the shell, simmer gently until shells pop open and then serve.  If using canned clams, simply cook for another 10 minutes or so.

Serve with a nice sourdough. Voila' - a very nice rainy Sunday afternoon clam chowder!

....One of my favorite pictures, great memories of a cold, windy, misty day at Point No Point, in Hansville, Washington.  The water was wild, and the rip tides were fierce.  The best kind of day to walk on the beach and simply be amazed at nature's power and beauty.  A school of Puget Sound dolphins swam by on the Point in front of the Lighthouse, and 2 VERY large sea lions glided by after them....

We came home that October day, our pockets full of sea glass and made a big pot of soup too.