When I was a kid I hated seafood. I would eat shrimp cocktail and baked stuffed clams and that was it. On top of that, I was very particular about my baked stuffed clams. The first time I had them was at a restaurant in Poughkeepsie, NY called Dickens. The restaurant was designed to reflect passages out of Charles Dickens novels. Our family went there for special occasions like Easter Dinner. After that, I would only eat them if they tasted the same as Dickens' clams.
Dickens eventually was sold to a new owner and I became Gluten Free. I spent years trying to find a recipe that tasted right. Well... I finally found it and here it is.
Gluten Free Baked Stuffed Clams
Ingredients:
10 Large Clams* (rinsed, sand and grit removed)
4 Tablespoons of minced onion (I used fresh yellow onion and a food processor to mince them up very fine)
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 stick of regular salted butter
2 Tablespoons of dried parsley
2 Tablespoon of minced garlic (I buy minced garlic in the jar because I use it so often)
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
1 Cup of breadcrumbs**
2 Tablespoons of clam juice (that's right, when you're done steaming the clams DON'T THROW IT OUT)
1/4 Cup grated cheese (Pecorino Romano)
1 Cup of dry white wine***
* I used 18 Cherrystone clams - talk to your seafood department guy, because you want the same amount of clam meat, but the type of clams determines the size and amount of meat.
** I have found that Schar Gluten Free (http://www.schar.com/us/) breadcrumbs taste the best and are most realistic.
*** Luna de Luna White is the one I cook with all of the time. It is great to drink and cook with. Do not use cooking wine as it is salty and will ruin the flavor of the dish.
Directions:
Fill a large pot with 1 1/2 to 2 inches of water. Add the cup of dry white wine and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic. In a steaming rack, place your rinsed clams. Make sure that the liquid in the pot is lower than your clams. Cover and steam the clams until they pop open. The clams will be infused with the white wine and garlic as will your clam juice (steaming liquid).
When the clams open, remove them from the pot. If any clams do not open, throw them out as they cannot be eaten. Remove your clam meat from the shells (except for the clam foot), and put your shells aside. Separate your clam shells. Pick however many shell halves you had clams (for example, I had 18 clams, so I used 18 shelled halves). Clean them thoroughly and place in a baking dish.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Now go back to your clam meat. You need to mince it into small pieces and set it aside. In a saute pan, pour a Tablespoon of Olive Oil and melt the butter on medium heat (the oil will keep the butter from burning). When the butter has melted add the minced onion. Once the onions have softened (2-3 minutes), add the other Tablespoon of minced garlic. Cook the garlic for 1 minute, then add the parsley, bread crumbs, minced clams, lemon juice, and clam juice. Stir until the stuffing mixture is completely moistened, then remove from the stove.
Scoop a little bit of stuffing mixture into each clam shell half. When complete, sprinkle with the grated cheese. Bake for approximately 20 - 25 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned on top.
I also boiled some snow crab legs. So delicious!
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