Clams, Clams and more Clams

Ok, linguine with clam sauce may not be such new recipe but I would venture to say that everyone has their own little twist to making it.  Back in the day when I didn't have a lot of extra cash, or time to buy fresh clams, I used to buy canned clams.  I bought whole, chopped and minced and used all three types to make a clam sauce.   Yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking, "she used CANNED clams".  The girl who touts 'buy what is fresh.'  Sometimes, a girl had to do what a girl had to do when fresh wasn't available, when $$$ were not available and when that was what was in the cupboard. (And if memory serves, shhhh, the canned version was quite tasty.) But I've grown up since then and realized that if you can't get fresh just wait till you can.  And such a day arose. With the beautiful summer breeze, the unlimited sunshine, and a glorious Sunday with no plans, I embarked on RE-creating the 3 clam recipe but with fresh clams.  

Like with any recipe, building up flavor is the key.  Here are the key items.

I love using small bowls for mise en place (which in French means "everything in its place", your set up)  Ron Miller artfully handcrafted these perfectly sized bowls that work just great.  They come in various sizes and depths for all the different items you need for prep.  Check out his site, Miller Pottery HVNY

The Stars!

Ingredients

Littlenecked Clams
Shortnecked Clams
BBQ Clams
2 shallots, minced
6-8 garlic cloves, sliced
1 1/4 c White wine
3 cups grape tomatoes, halved
Olive oil
red pepper flakes, optional
2/3 c parsley, chopped
1 T fresh Thyme

Instructions

Sauté shallots, garlic until softened and red pepper flakes.  Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes breakdown.

Since there are three sizes of clams, it is best to cook in stages, as the little ones don't need as much time and will get tough if you put them all in together.  

Big one first

Next size goes in next

These babies starting to open and release their essence of the sea!

Add the largest clams first and add 1/4 cup wine and cover.  After about 5-8 minutes or until the clams just begin to open.  Add the 2nd batch of clams with 1/2 cup of wine and cover.  After 5 minutes or so add the smallest clams adding the thyme and 1/2 the parsley and the last 1/2 cup of wine. Cover and let cook for another 5-8 minutes until all clams are opened. You shouldn't need to add salt to this dish since the clams emit the nature salt of the sea but taste the sauce to check if seasoning needs adjusting for salt and the red pepper flakes, depending on much heat you like.  Right before serving, top with the remaining chopped parsley.

Of course, this dish is perfect with linguine, but can also be served with polenta or crusty bread.   Do not forget to enjoy this with a crisp white or rose wine.  I would highly recommend a Spanish Albariño or French Rose.  JC and I love having this on a Sunday afternoon where the two of us just sit in front of a big bowl and have at it.  My dad is a huge seafood fan and we try to make this for him when we can.  When he is not around, we torture him by sending photos.  I guess that is kinda mean.  

It's summer time and this dish is a great starter for a BBQ.  Place a big bowl on the table and watch the party take on a new life.  Your guests will love just digging.  What better way to begin a meal than to share gifts from the sea.  Party of 10 or party of 2, clams, clams and more clams!

Creamsicle Table scape

I will not lie, I love setting a table, whether it be for an big event or brunch for 4.  Just such an occasion arose several Sundays back. While rummaging through my archives I found a photo of this table setting and remembered how fresh and clean it looked.  Why rework a good thing?  That's when I started pulling out all the same linens.  It felt like a Creamsicle and seemed appropriate to recreate for this brunch.

I like to mix and match items.  Styles and colors, high/low priced items that I find at different times from different stores or even garage sale finds.   For this table, I am starting out with a crisp white cotton tablecloth from Williams Sonoma that has bold orange borders. (Please note that I purchased this awhile ago so the link doesn't show that exact tablecloth.  However, if you are interested, here are two links with similar ones from Bed, Bath & Beyond and Ebay) 

I think the idea of matching everything perfectly has been replaced with coordinating some low cost, even vintage finds with items that are more refined and using what you have to create a a particular vibe. Well, at least that's how we feel in our household.  I used a mix of white china with restaurant grade dinner plates cuddling up alongside Riedel wine glasses that didn't mind mingling with vintage water glasses found at an antique shop.

I also like to layer.  It's similar to what you do in cooking, add ingredients a layer at a time to build up "flavor".  I think this effect does exactly that.  So to complement the orange border in the tablecloth, I use deep orange napkins that I purchased from World Market. In this case, these are not used as a napkin but for color punch. To pull in the blue accents we have in our dining room, and for even more depth and separation, I added deep dark blue placemats as the base layer. Then the folded orange napkin is placed on top which will be the base for the plates.

From there, I continue to build my layers by using white with a red stripe dish cloth that I picked up at Ikea. These are super inexpensive and are great as napkins.  

Folded in left side

Right sided folded in to meet in the middle

In order to get the red stripe showing just the way I want, I fold the long ends back onto itself on each side to meet in the middle.  Then fold in half and place on top of the plate, followed by a salad plate.  

From there just start placing the silverware and glasses around each setting.  Add some candles and of course the Purple Forest arrangement,  or purple tulips and white daisy mums and that's it.  And just the like the ice pop it reminds me of, this Creamsicle tabletop that is as crisp, clean and as refreshing as the menu.

Lox on a What?

As some of you may know, I have a food sensitivity to wheat and try to be as wheat free as possible.  A few months back on a glorious Sunday morning, my hubby went out early to buy warm, soft, billowy bagels for our houseguests.  He also was thinking of me, as he opened the bag and pulled out scallion cream cheese and luscious lox.  I quickly went through the cupboards in search of my favorite Mary’s Gone Crackers  (gluten free!) only to find the cupboards bare.  What's a girl to do?  I peeked into the bagel bag breathing in their yeasty aromas.  I even starting eyeing the one who would be my wheat free wrecking ball. Oh, my temptation was deep but my WILL was stronger.

As I looked around the kitchen I spied an apple.  At first thought, it seemed like it might be too sweet, but upon realization that this would be my only delivery vehicle for my cream cheese-lox combo, I quickly washed and sliced away.

I knew it wouldn’t taste bad, but I had the bagel in the back of my head.

Much to my surprise the balance of flavors played off each other beautifully.  The crispness of the apple was so fresh against the creaminess of the cheese and the salty bite of the lox. An added bonus for me, since I like different textures in my food, was the apple provided a crunchiness that a bagel fails to give.  

Oh my friends, I dare say I might never be tempted by those soft billows again. The weekend is approaching and Sunday is as good a time as any for this combo.  Give it try. I would go as far to say these would make a great brunch plate or even a light appetizer for a fall party.  You might want to cut the apple with cookie cutters or into smaller bite sized pieces. If you choose to serve these in that way, squeeze some lemon juice over the apple slices to keep them from turning brown.  Heck, do that anyway, it will just enhance the overall flavor. 

Lox on a what? Yes, on an apple.

Tomato & Goat Cheese Tart

With just three main ingredients, this pie could not be simpler.   Its sweet and savory notes do their part to round out a buffet table for a brunch, or a slice can cozy up to a side salad for an ideal pairing for lunch.   This dish first came together for me last year when I had leftover heirloom tomatoes after assembling my Salmon Salad... A Deconstructed Platter.   I had a pie crust in the freezer that thankfully wasn't freezer burned. Stroke of luck. Some goat cheese and a few supporting characters to enhance the flavor and a pie is born.  This time I used vine ripe tomatoes and it was just as lip smacking good.  Our guests each had a second slice.

Oh, the beauty of an heirloom. Sweet wonders

Ingredients

1 pie crust (store bought or homemade. I used a gluten free version so I could enjoy it)
5-7 large tomatoes, (heirloom if you can but any hearty tomato will work)
2/3 c (approx) goat cheese
Basil leaves
Salt, Pepper, Olive oil

Truly, just 3 main ingredients star in this pie party

Instructions

In a 350 degree oven, blind bake the crust until slightly golden brown.  Then arrange first layer of tomatoes in a circular fashion.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot with goat cheese.  Do the same to create a second layer and repeat until pie crust is filled.  Bake until the cheese melts and tomatoes are bubbly.  Add basil ribbons and drizzle with olive oil right before serving.  For an added touch to enhance all the flavors, sprinkle flake salt on top.

Now that tomatoes are in season, bake 'em up, serve 'em up to your heart's  delight; tomato red. 

Strings... of Bean, Pepper & Asparagus Salad

Many, many moons ago I made a string bean and pepper salad to bring to a BBQ. The hostess and guests loved it, but ironically I never made it again. Mostly because back then, I never wrote any of my recipe ideas down and had forgotten all about this one.  My memory was jogged when I was shopping yesterday and saw some of the ingredients.  I decided it was worth digging into the memory banks to revive this salad.  

The main ingredients I remembered

I knew I used string beans, red and yellow peppers with a creamy type of dressing. I also remembered that I cut the string beans on a severe angle, and julienned the peppers so that the visual effect was of all the ingredients being long and lean.  After that, quite honestly the rest was a blur.  This time around I found that I had asparagus in the back of the fridge and thought they fell right in line with the long and lean mantra. So, into this recipe they went. Then began the "recreation".   

Ingredients

4 c (approx) string beans, blanched then cut on a long diagonal
1 red pepper, julienned and blanched
1 yellow pepper, julienned and blanched
1 bunch asparagus, cut lengthwise on the diagonal, blanched
1 scallion, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Mint, chiffonade
 

Dressing

1/2 avocado
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 t course sea salt
1/8 t crushed black pepper
1/4 t whole grain mustard
3 T olive oil

String beans blanching

It's the peppers' turn

Now the asparagus

Instructions

Trim and wash the string beans.  In a saucepan, blanch the string beans until tender but still with a bite.  Cut both the red and yellow peppers into thin julienne slices.  Once the string beans are done, remove and cut them in long diagonal pieces. Add the peppers to same saucepan and lightly blanch.  These literally take 30 seconds to one minute. You just want to get the raw bite out of these.  Cut the asparagus stems on a long diagonal cut.  After removing the peppers, blanch in same saucepan.  Add all the vegetables to a serving dish. Add the scallions and chopped mint.  

I simply could not recall what I did for the dressing but I had an avocado and knew that would deliver a creamy version.  I used a mortal and pestle to combine all the above ingredients, whisking in the olive oil.  You certainly can use a mini blender in pulse mode or a fork to mash the avocado, then whisk all together.  Pour the dressing over the room temperature vegetables and lightly toss.  

This wasn't quite the original salad, and I'm not even sure how I can say that since I can't remember what the exact original salad was, but I liked it just the same.  I loved how I could taste the hint of mustard with a bright mint finish and that all the veggies still had a fresh bite to them.  I think this is a great spring and summer side dish for a warm evening's dinner or great for a afternoon BBQ.  This could also be hearty base for a sautéd fish.  It looks great. Tastes great. And truly is a quick and easy recipe to whip up in a hurry.  So hurry, get your long and lean strings of veggies on.