Cooking North of Seattle - Archives

What's For Dinner? Early Spring 2010

Clam season starts here as soon as the tides begin to be low during the daytime, usually late February early March. The first clams of the season always taste especially sweet and briny. Our first clamming trip this year was on a perfect spring day. We headed down to the beach, bucket and shovel in tow. We had to dig several holes before we found one that yielded lots of clams. It didn't take too long before we had met our quota.

The clams should sit in sea water and corn meal overnight to allow them to purge the contents of their stomachs. So, the next day we sorted the clams according to size, large, medium and small. The large ones we use for stuffing or broiling, the medium ones are perfect for frying and the small ones we steam to eat as is or as a first step towards making a clam tomato sauce.

A trip to New England last June inspired me to find a good recipe for deep fried clams. I came up with a simple recipe that results in a crispy, juicy clam. They are so good that this has become my way to eat clams.

Early March brings the first of the fresh Alaska halibut. Expensive when it first hits the market, halibut prices settle down after several weeks and that’s when I start buying. Halibut is a firm white fish that can handle strong flavors. My very favorite halibut recipe combines Prosciutto, capers, lemons and white wine into a salty/tart sauce to pour over the baked fish. It is also a great fish to poach. One night I did a quick web search for poached fish ideas and came up with an interesting array of aromatics that can be used for poaching. I used what was on hand - young fennel that was coming up all over the garden, green onions, fresh ginger, chopped tomatoes, lemon. Poaching the fish gives it a moistness that cannot be matched by pan frying or baking.

The Recipes

New England Deep Fried Clams

8 medium clams, shucked
1/4 c milk
1/4 c cornmeal
3 T flour
1 T Cajun seasoning
salt & pepper

Drain clams of liquid and pour milk over them.

Combine flour, cornmeal and Cajun seasoning. Add 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper.

Heat oil over medium heat in a heavy skillet. Shake milk from clams and roll in flour/cornmeal mixture. Fry until golden on one side, turn and fry the other side until golden. Be careful not to cook them too long. They should be barely cooked through. Sprinkle with salt as soon as you remove them from the frying pan. Serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce.

Makes 2 servings.

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