Clams Casino

Clams Casino

Clams are wonderful served raw, fried, broiled or in chowders or other fish stews.  One of my favorite clam dishes is Clams Casino, a classic baked preparation that originated in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Be sure to check out my All About Clams article to learn more about the various varieties of clams.

As with most dishes, there is more than one way to make clams casino, and ingredient lists vary widely from recipe to recipe.  The common factors are clams on the half shell, bacon, garlic, cheese and butter.  As far as I’m concerned, you can’t go wrong with these ingredients.  You can make a very basic Clams Casino by topping a clam on the half shell with a couple of shavings of Parmesan cheese and a small piece of bacon and then broiling until the cheese is golden and the bacon is crisp.

I like to add a few more ingredients to my Clams Casino.  In this version, I use white wine, but you can certainly substitute chicken, vegetable or fish stock if you prefer not to cook with alcohol.

Clams Casino

24 littleneck or cherrystone clams, cleaned and shucked, bottom shells reserved
Rock salt
4-6 slices of bacon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup minced white onion
¾ cup minced green and red peppers
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs—oregano and basil are nice
1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Procedure

In a large sauté pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Remove from pan, drain on paper towels and crumble; set aside.

Wipe out the sauté pan, but don’t wash it.  Heat the pan over medium-high heat for a minute or two, then add the olive oil and butter.

Sauté the shallot, garlic, onion and peppers with the oregano and a pinch of salt and pepper until softened.

Turn the heat to medium high and add the wine.  Reduce the pan liquid until only about ¼ cup remains.  Cool the vegetables completely.

Stir in the panko, reserved bacon, fresh herbs and half the Parmesan cheese.  Taste and correct seasonings.

Shuck the clams, reserving the bottom shells.  Arrange them on a bed of rock salt on a rimmed baking sheet.

Divide the stuffing equally among the clams, mounding it up slightly.  Sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan evenly over the stuffing

Bake at 500°F until the clams are cooked and the topping is deep golden brown, about 7-10 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Related Topics

All About Clams

Fish Chowder Recipe

If you are into Japanese knives and cuisine, you are going to enjoy Chef Hiromitsu Nozaki’s new book called Japanese Kitchen Knives. Filled with everything you want to know about how Japanese knives are made, how they are to be used and how to use them plus delicious recipes showing you how to make dishes using the techniques including this recipe for Deep Fried Fluke.

Chef Nozaki starts by providing the important basics to Japanese knives including cutting posture, knife anatomy and knife control. He then looks at the three main knives used in Japanese cooking - the usuba, the deba and the yanagiba. Each knife is used for different cuts and he explains in detail with gorgeous photos of how they should be accomplished.

He shows you how to make paper thin cuts with Usuba by using a rotary peeling technique as well as filleting a flute into five pieces with the Deba knive as he does in this recipe. At the end of the book he explains sharpening, maintenance, how to purchase and movement of the blade.

Deep Fried Hirame Nuggets
Serves 2

This recipe calls for the fluke to already be filleted and that’s most likely how you will find it in your supermarket or fish market. But let’s say you are down at the beach and you catch some fluke or you have the opportunity to buy whole fish rather than already filleted.  Chef Nozaki’s book, Japanese Kitchen Knives will show you in detail exactly how to remove the head, scales and organs, remove the fillets and then the belly bones.

Ingredients:

2 medium fluke fillets
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger
Potato starch or corn starch
Vegetable oil for deep frying
4 asparagus spears

How to Prepare at Home

Preheat the vegetable oil to 340℉ in a deep fryer or big pot.

Cut the fillets into 1 ounce pieces. Combine the soy sauce and grated ginger in a small bowl and place the fish pieces into the bowl and douse with the soy-ginger mixture.

Dredge the fish nuggets in the potato starch and deep fry for about 4 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain any excess oil.

Deep fry the asparagus without flouring for 30 seconds and drain.

Serve immediately.

Related Topics

Novice2Pro Interview with Chef Hiromitsu Nozaki

One of the dishes I had the privilege of sampling at The Great Chefs Event was this one from Chef Joseph Manzare, chef & owner of a slew of restaurants in San Francisco including Zuppa, Globe, Tres Agaves, and Joey & Eddies. If you have not read my posts about this incredible event to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, I recommend you check them out.

The Great Chefs Event

The Great Chefs Event - A Huge Success

Chef Manzare started in the restaurant business at age 14 and later trained under Chef Jean-Francois Mettigner and Chef Wolfgang Puck before going to Italy and working at San Domenico in Imola. He was nominated “Rising Star Chef of the United States” for the James Bear Awards while working as executive chef at the Royalton in New York.

Maryland Blue Crab Chipachole

Chipachole is a traditional Mexican spicy soup made with crab meat. Chef Manzare’s recipe calls for fresh Maryland Blue Crab meat but I’m sure you can substitute pasteurized crab meat from companies like Phillips when fresh crab isn’t available but you will have to come up with some shellfish stock as a substitute.

This recipe uses Guajillo   [gwah-HEE-yoh]  chilies that are thick, reddish brown chiles that can be mild to moderately hot.  The guajillo is popular in Mexico and one of the most commonly grown. The Guajillo chili requires a longer soaking period than most due to its leathery skin.

Chef Manzare’s recipe makes 6 portions

Ingredients

2 pounds Maryland Blue Crabs
1 large onion
3 cloves of minced garlic
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 pounds tomatoes
5 Guajillo chilies, lightly toasted
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 bunch of green onions, diced

How to Prepare

Bring 1 1/2 gallons of water plus 1 tablespoon of salt to boil in a large pot. Add the crabs and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the crabs (saving the cooking liquid) and give them an ice bath.

Clean the crabs of their meat, saving all the bones (I’m guessing he means shells because crabs are invertebrates and do not have bones) and innards but discard the lungs. Mix the crab meat with the green onions and set aside.

In a low, wide pot, add 3 tablespoons of canola oil and saute onion, Guajillo chiles, garlic, thyme, black pepper, salt, tomatoes, bones (I think he means shells) and innards from the crab, for ten minutes at high heat. Add the cooking liquid from the crab and bring to a low boil. Cook for 15 minutes.

Puree everything in a blender or food processor and strain through a medium strainer. (I’m not sure I would puree the shells but I will try to find out.)

To serve, pour the soup into bowls and add crab meat with the green onions. Top with cilantro (optional), and serve with Tequila.