TOUGH COOKS, TENDER CLAMS
Cooked hard-shell clams are an unbeatable two-for-the price-of-one delight.
You get the clams themselves and the clam liquid they give off as they cook, which creates an instant sauce with astonishing depth of flavour. And it’s simple. You just combine the clams with some liquid (and aromatics, if you want — here I’ve added scallions, garlic and tomatoes), cover them and let them steam until the shells open.
The only tricky part is that all clams don’t cook at the same pace. The first specimen might open after just five minutes while the last one luxuriates for three times as long.
If you allow that first clam to hang out until the last clam opens, it’ll end up rubbery. Accordingly, it takes a tough cook to make a tender clam.
Check the steaming clams frequently and pull each one out of the pot the second its shell opens.
This very same recipe also works using a different kind of bivalve mollusk, namely mussels. You’ll need about four pounds of these critters. Method-wise, proceed as with the clams, removing each mussel as it opens.
Canadian bacon adds some meat and smoke to the finished dish. (Also, it’s leaner than traditional bacon.) Of course, the pescatarians among us are welcome to leave out the bacon.
But please don’t skip the garlic bread. It’s easy to make and key to the recipe. And there’s no better way to sop up all that luscious clam broth.
Clam Tomato and Bacon Stew with Grilled Garlic Bread
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup chopped Canadian bacon 1 cup sliced white part of scallions and ½ cup sliced green part of scallions 1 cup medium chopped green bell pepper 2 teaspoons minced garlic 2 cups medium chopped ripe tomatoes 1 cup dry white wine 4 dozen cherrystone clams, cleaned well ½ cup packed basil leaves, coarsely chopped 1 recipe Grilled Garlic Bread (recipe below)
Start to finish: One hour In a large saucepan or Dutch oven large enough to hold all the clams, heat the oil over medium-high heat, add the bacon, reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon starts to brown around the edges. Add the sliced white part of scallions and the bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Add the white wine and the clams, cover the pot and steam, transferring the clams as they open to a bowl. Discard any clams that do not open.
Remove all the clams from their shells and return them to the pot with the tomato mixture. Reheat over medium-low heat until just hot. Stir in the basil and scallion greens.
To serve: Put two pieces of the grilled bread into each of six soup plates and spoon one-sixth of the clam mixture on top.
Grilled Garlic Bread
6 (1/2-inch thick) slices country bread Extra-virgin olive oil for brushing the bread 1 garlic clove, halved
Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium heat. Brush both sides of the bread slices with the oil. Add the bread to the preheated grill and grill until it’s nicely marked and crispy on both sides (about 2 minutes a side). Remove the bread from the grill and while it’s still hot, rub one side of each slice with the cut side of the garlic.
Per serving: 393 calories (145 from fat); 16 grams fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 75 milligrams cholesterol; 1,020 mg sodium; 33 g carbohydrate; 4 g fibre; 4 g sugar; 21 g protein.