Spaghetti with White Clam Sauce

I'm totally clammed out... but Dad wanted to use up the clams...

And what do you know? I ended up eating a bit more!

For this recipe you're supposed to use:

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic, Minced

2 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp Parsley

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp Dried Oregano
1/4 tsp Dried Basil
1/4 tsp Black Pepper, ground

2 cans (6.5 oz) Minced Clams

1 Pound Spagetti

2 Tbsp Romano Cheese, Grated

And that's all good. But I can't say that I exactly followed the recipe.

We controlled ourselves with the pasta and cooked it according to the package's directions.

And we browned the garlic in the oil, except that we doubled the garlic. I mean... c'mon. Two cloves?

Here's Dad with the butter, clams, clam nectar, and seasonings. We added this to the garlic and oil and heated everything through.

I should mention, we did our own thing.

We steamed our own clams, and also used fresh herbs instead of all the dried herbs.  Fresh herbs make a big difference. Fresh clams do too! (not canned)

The quick and dirty rule of thumb for substituting fresh for dried herbs is 1 tsp dried becomes 1 Tbsp fresh.

Just for reference... there's 3 tsp per Tbsp.

And once you've drained your pasta, just toss the spagetti with the clam sauce, and top with Romano cheese. A little bit of good bread to sop up that sauce doesn't hurt either.

Moroccan Chicken

I haven't posted to this blog in a while... so here goes. I pulled this recipe off of The Stir

 Like most every other good recipe, this one starts with olive oil (~2 Tbsp), onion (1 large, sliced), and garlic (3 cloves, diced). I thought of pressing the garlic, but I actually did dice it eventually.

Notice the food is on a glass cutting board. It's good for holding stuff, but it's the absolute worst "cutting" board to have. If you care about your knife's edge, even a little bit, do NOT cut on glass. Get yourself some wood. Wood's #1. And plastic is ok too, especially for raw meat, since it is easy to run it through the dishwasher.

 Anyway, heat the oil (medium heat) and then throw in the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until onions are soft... about ten minutes.

 K, while the onions are cooking, you need to grab up some spices. Here we have:

1 Tbsp Sweet Paprika

1.5 tsp Salt

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Coriander (Ground)

1 tsp Fennel (Ground)

1 tsp Black Pepper (Ground)

.5 tsp Cumin (Ground)

.5 tsp Ginger (Ground)

Now, set these aside, we'll use them in a minute.

 Just a quick note on the ground spices...

Consider grinding your own. Get yourself an old coffee grinder and use it... or use the old standby, the mortar and pestle. Just trust me on this one. There's nothing else like it.  You'll love it.

 We're also going to need the juice from 1 lemon.

 And yes, I know. The emergency room Doctor said I wasn't to be allowed "sharps", but hey... that was in IDAHO, I'm in Washington now! And let me tell ya, that lemon juice wakes you up when you get it in the cut on your fingertip that somehow magically appeared last week after you forgot your gloves and yet you were out there on the beach anyway, shucking oysters! (Genius)  I mean, what's the worst that can happen right? But, I digress...

 Crap. Speaking of digressing, I went to get the chicken for this recipe and realized I still have clams that need eatin' up!

Hey wait. Did you see that?

 Just sitting around with my siphon hanging out.

 Ok, so I really need to get this back on track. Where was I? Oh yes, once the onions are soft drop in your spices and stir for about a minute. Then you want to dump in water (1 cup), the Lemon juice from above, and some diced tomatoes (~14 oz). Bring this to a boil, and then add your chicken (1 lb, boneless thighs are what I used). Spoon some of the sauce over the meat and then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Then turn the chicken over and simmer some more, another 15 or 20 minutes.

 Now this was listed as "optional" in the original recipe, but since I'm an "optional" kind of guy and had three small eggplant in the fridge, I went for it. While the chicken is simmering, cut the eggplant (1 Large) into 1 inch chunks. I then tossed them in a bag with some olive oil and tossed it around to coat the chunks. Out onto a baking sheet with parchment paper, and we're in business. I baked them about 20 minutes at 350, and they were soft and brown.

 Once the eggplant and the chicken is cooked, grab yourself some fresh mint. The recipe says 1 bunch, chopped. But I just grabbed it out of the yard and tore it up. Throw it in with the eggplant, and olives (1 can) if you like olives. Just let this simmer for a few minutes until everything is heated through.

 And while you're doing that last bit of simmerin', you should probably toast your Almonds that you're going to top the Chicken with. Now I know it's easier to just throw them on and not take the time to toast them, but just like with the spices... trust me. It's worth it. Until you've toasted your nuts and ground your own spices, you're missing the second and third best things in life.

 And finally... we eat!

(I served mine over rice, you can do whatever you want.)

Steamers!

Dug myself some clams today...

Siphon away little buddy!

MMMMM. Steamers!

Fresh herb and mixed greens salad with clams feta and shitake sesame vinagrette

Yum!

Matt: Don't Look!

So Dad shows up with 80 clams...
:)

Yeah, Sorry Matt, it had to be done!

Straight from the pan.
Careful! You'll burn your lips on the shell.

Fresh Tomato & Cracked Pepper...

You all remember it's Dad's Birthday tomorrow right?

Clams!

Start with a nice beach with a variety of clams, a smile, and a shellfish license. Get your clams and bring them home and purge them.

Then you add a little garlic, a lot of melted butter, and white wine. (David cooked the clams and Dad cooked more oysters.)

Then you eat the delicious meal and are left with plates full of shells.

Sushi and Miso soup

Make some Sushi rice. Yes, use Kombu and season your own vinegar... then slice some Scallions, Cucumbers and Daikon radish. and the seafood of your choosing. For our purposes here, Chris and I had Shrimp, minced Clams, Tuna and Lox (cured salmon). Assemble in your favorite way.

The Bounty of the Sea

Roadmap:
First, purge your shellfish... then you warm a small amount of olive oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and saute till golden and aromatic, add diced yellow peppers, green onions(whites only, reserve the green for later) and your favorite hot peppers. Saute til tender. Add shellfish and your favorite chopped smoke grilled sausage, some dry white wine and simmer covered till shellfish open. Toss with the greens from the onion, sliced grape tomatoes and fresh chopped cilantro. Slice fresh crusty bread, rub with garlic clove, drizzle with E. V. O. Oil and toast in a pan or on a grill. Serve with your favorite beverage, adult or otherwise. For me it was a toss up so I had a little of both "Kung Fu Girl" Riesling and a wonderful redhook "ESB".

Steamed Clams / Oysters

Matt came to visit me in Bremerton. We thought it'd be nice to hit up the seafood while we were there. That's Matt shucking oysters in North Bay...

We also went clamming. This was an excellent beach for Manila and Native Littlenecks.
40 apiece per the regs.

Once you're home you should purge your clams. All shellfish will purge sand from themselves if placed in clean saltwater... But here we've added cornmeal to the water so they also feed on it. Basically, we were "breading" them on the inside! Just remember to change the water often while purging the clams, otherwise they'll use up the oxygen in the water and die.

While you're purging your clams you may as well eat up the Oysters you grabbed...
since they're just laying around...
For our Oysters, we poached them in their own liquor with butter and garlic, then topped them off with green onions and a little Tabasco.

They're a bit big to be considered "shooters", but hey, whatever.

Once the clams are purged and scrubbed, you're ready to steam!
Looks like we picked up Manila, Native Littlenecks, a couple Horse Clams, and even a Mussel.

Chopping up a little Parsley.

We're going for subtle with the clams, nothing overly fancy. Just steamed in a local white wine with a little parsley and green onion.

Steamed Clams

Top them off with a little fresh cracked black pepper, and a little chopped tomato.
Serve them with some crusty bread for soppin' up the juices.

And then, you're officially a glutton.

Cioppino!

Good things start with chopped onion, garlic, and olive oil.

Today's Catch

Did someone chase Ethan around with that big claw?

Just kidding. Ethan's getting into it to. Helping Mike make the green salsa. This is a full family affair!

Ah.
Cioppino.

Eat up.

There's nothing like a little gambling after a good meal. Except when your brothers cheat! Here we're rolling pigs, with a lot of elbow bumping, and blowing.