26 August 2011
They were their final meal...
I'm not sure what possessed me, but I bought little neck clams recently. I grew up in a beach town, but seafood was never really my thing. I also can't really remember my parents cooking clams much at home. I do have a traumatic memory of my Dad slicing open some live lobsters to ready them for stuffing. Still gives me chills...
Even so...when I saw that Fresh Direct had local little neck clams on sale for .39 each...I jumped on it. Curious, no? Perhaps my New England roots are coming out...
When they arrived, I quickly put the paper bag in the fridge so I could go to work...not fully realizing that a) I had live clams in the fridge and b) I had nothing to cook/eat them with. When it dawned on me, I took a side trip to Whole Foods on my way home (never go grocery shopping when hungry. I went in for pasta and a lemon and came out with that, cheese, cod cake bites, hamburger rolls, coconut water and...wait for it...empanadas).
I didn't even start cooking until around 9pm.
On the plus side...when I stopped at the wine shop for some chilled Sauvingnon Blanc, they were having a tasting and one of the choices was a blended whisky. The guy took one look at me in my long, green sun-dress and pink sweater and blanked for a moment before handing over the delightful spirit.
With a warm belly, I made my way home to off some clams.
When I opened the bag of clams I noted how beautiful they were...and all open. Surely that wasn't right. I also remembered that my Mom used to put them in water with something added to make them spit out any sand (so we must have had clams or mussels or something at one point. Maybe I blocked it out). I put them in a pan of plain water since the directions said to rinse them anyway. When I put the pan to the side I noticed little bubbles appearing...and then one by one the clams closed.
!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes. I never really thought about the fact that they would still be alive. Memories of my Dad and those poor lobsters came flooding back...
Nevertheless, I pressed on and cooked them in chicken stock, white wine, butter, garlic, lemon juice and parsley. It was sort of twisted but fun to watch them all pop open...
I had done a little research online and got a lovely recommendation from one of my high school friends, Heather (a fellow New England Girl). It certainly did the trick! Although in the end I think my inexperience cooking clams made them come out a little rubbery. But the important thing is that I tried something new and found satisfaction in that. Grim satisfaction...for about 30 seconds (the wine helped). Then it was just pure satisfaction ;)
A little for the clams, a little for me...
I served it over organic fettuccine that I tossed with butter and garlic. It certainly was pretty:
This bowl of shells made me remember when my Dad and Sister would sometimes eat clams or mussels in the Summer...there was always a bowl to put the discarded shells in. See there, my memory is unlocking!
I will most likely attempt this again...maybe improve on my timing and get over the guilt!
XO