As you’ll see form the previous post, American Independence day fell over this weekend. So for the 4th of July, we rented a cabin up in Lake Tahoe, which gave us the opportunity to do something we’d been gagging to do since we got here. Get our grill on.
We cooked a bunch of stuff on the barbecue which came with our weekend digs including ribs (recipe soon), steak, corn, s’mores and this great little clam recipe that the missus spotted on the New York Times website a few weeks ago.
It’s a really simple and easy, a bit different, and makes a perfect starter. We approximated the quantities as we didn’t have any on-line access whilst there, but I think we winged it pretty successfully.
Ingredients (serves 2)
20 clams (about 10 per person)
100g buter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Small handful chopped flat leaf parsley
A wedge of lemon to finish
Method
It all happens pretty quickly, so you’ll want to get all your bits and bobs prepped before the clams hit the grill. First up, soak the clams in ice cold slightly salted water and let them chill out and ‘de-silt’ for half an hour.
Whilst this is going on, get your barbecue going. Seeing as these guys are going to cook in a couple of minutes flat, it may not be worth firing up a barbie just for these, so you’ll have to think of something else to cook afterwards (more on this soon).
So, now you’ve got the barbie going, prep the sauce. Stick the butter, chopped garlic cloves, pepper and Worcestershire sauce in a pan on the heat and melt it until it all sizzles together to form a smooth, silky sauce. Take it off the heat after a minute or so, add the freshly chopped parsley, and stir it in.
Next, drain the clams, pop them on the barbecue and close the lid. You want to get the heat intense so the mussels steam themselves cooked. They’ll pop open once they’re done, so after about 90 seconds take a look under the hood. If they’re all open, you’re ready. If not, close the lid again for another 30 seconds or so.
By now, they should be done, so take the clams off the grill retaining as much of their cooking juices as possible, and place on a plate (discard any un-opened ones). Using a spoon, carefully drizzle the sauce into each of the clam’s shells.
Squeeze over the lemon, and serve immediately with some good sourdough.
Tags: 4th July, Barbecue, Butter, Cabin, Clams, Garlic, Independence Day, lake Tahoe, Lemon, Parsley, Shelfish, Worcestershire Sauce
