Stuffed Clams. Everybody loves them, though a lot of people have probably asked the question, “How are stuffed clams made?” Well, your quest for bivalve culinary knowledge ends with this blog post, in which we show you step-by-step how to make the best stuffed clams. The particular recipe we’ll show you is for an original creation called South of the Border Stuffed Clams. These differ from traditional stuffed clams in that they contain cumin, ground chipotle pepper powder, and chopped bacon. If you’re looking for something more mild, we’ve contained an additional recipe at the end of this post, courtesy of SimplyRecipes.com.
As a side note, when you buy your Quahog clams from Atlantic Seafood, they’re already shucked for you, so the hardest part of preparation is already handled for you. This will save you a good deal of time and aggravation.
If you want to copy our recipe, reading this entry is where the work begins. You’ll still need to buy all of the necessary ingredients, so we’ll list them out for you here:
- Meat from 10 large clams
Stuffed clam ingredients, minus the lime juice
- 2 tbsp minced onions
- 3 scallion stalks, finely chopped
- 1 stick of butter
- 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp clam juice
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp ground chipotle pepper powder
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 3 strips of bacon
- 1 cup of bread crumbs
Now that you know the ingredients, you can get ready for the preparation, consisting of the following steps:
1. Boil your clam meat in 2 inches of water in a small pot for a steaming effect. Let the clams simmer for about 8 minutes and then mince them further when done. If you’re cooking them while still in their shells, be sure to discard any clams that aren’t open when the steaming is done.
2. While this is going on, fry up three strips of bacon in a frying pan. Crumble it up into small pieces when it has finished cooking and is cool enough to touch.
Crumbled Bacon
3. Take a stick of butter and melt it in a frying pan. To speed up the process, you can break the butter up into small chunks. After the butter has melted and fried for 1 minute, add the chopped onions.
Chop your butter for faster melting
4. After the onions have been browning for around 2 minutes, add in the parsley, scallions, lime juice, clam juice, and garlic and fry for an additional minute.
Parsley, clam juice, lime juice, scallions, garlic, and onions frying in butter
5. The next step is to add in the bacon, breadcrumbs and clams, along with the cumin and ground chipotle pepper. Make sure to mix quickly so the breadcrumbs do not congeal and stick to the pan.
Well-mixed clam stuffing
6. Let the stuffing mix cool for a bit and then scoop it into a mixing bowl. Then take each individual half clam shell and spoon the stuffing inside. Push gently down with the bottom of the spoon to make an even coating.
Filling a shell with stuffing
7. Put all 10 shells on to a baking sheet and place them into an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes.
8. Remove the stuffed clams from the baking sheet, place on individual serving plates and enjoy!
South of the Border Stuffed Clams, ready to eat
Baked Stuffed Clams
Ingredients: 10 Quahog clams, 3 tbsp minced onions, 1 stick of butter, 2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1 tbsp clam juice, salt and pepper, to taste1.
Directions:
1. Put 2 inches of water into a pot and bring the water to a boil. Add in the clams and let them simmer for approximately 8 minutes on slightly reduced heat.
2. Remove all of the meat from the clam and mince it finely, excluding the foot.
3. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place a stick of butter in a sautee pan and melt it. After this, you may add in the onions, parsley, garlic, bread crumbs, clam juice, clams, and lemon juice. As is the case with the other recipe in this post, you’ll want to begin stirring right away.
4. Put the clam shells on to a baking sheet and fill each with as much as the mixture as they can accommodate. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.
5. Remove the clams from the oven and allow them to cool until suitable to eat “font-size: 5px;”>1.
Baked Stuffed Clams – Image courtesy of SimplyRecipes.com
Works Cited
1. Bauer, Elise
Baked Stuffed Clams
JustRecipes.com, July 28, 2008
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_stuffed_clams/
