clam boil

Mike’s mom and grandparents are from the Northeast. I’m from Texas.

They had clam boils. I had crawfish boils.

I had heard of a clam bake but never a clam boil. Until Mike started describing it to me and I realized it was a crawfish boil…with clams. Sounds good!

So we headed back to our trusty seafood market for the beautiful clams and those, paired with some good chorizo that Mike’s grandma sent us, BAM.

Clam boil.

Clam Boil

Serves 4.

2 onions, quartered

2 heads of garlic, halved

4 stalks of celery, cut into large pieces

1 lemon, quartered

½ cup Old Bay seasoning

3 cups seafood stock OR clam juice

20-24 ounces of good dark beer

4 ears of fresh corn

1 ½ pounds a little red potatoes

3-4 links of smoked sausage (chorizo, andouille, etc)

4 dozen littleneck clams

1 stick of butter, melted

1 loaf of crusty homemade herb bread

Scrub red potatoes and set aside. Clean and shuck corn and cut into halves.

Fill a large stockpot with strainer insert with the onions, garlic, celery, lemon and Old Bay seasoning. Add corn and potatoes.

Add seafood stock and beer and fill the rest of the way with water.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and add the sausage. Cook, covered, until the potatoes are almost fork-tender, about 10 minutes.

While the boil is heating, clean the clams by scrubbing thoroughly and rinsing under cold running water. Fill the sink with cold water and swish clams back and forth to dislodge any sand and grit that may be caught in the necks. Rinse and repeat several times.

When the potatoes are almost fork-tender, add the clams, increase the heat to high, cover, and cook until the shells pop open, 6 to 8 minutes. Discard any clams that do not open.

Remove the strainer insert from the pot and drain the boil. Pass the melted butter and bread to sop up all the juices.

I feel like I’m back in Texas. But, with clams.