New England Style Clambake Recipes

NEW ENGLAND STYLE CLAMBAKE

Steps:

• Dig a whole in the ground approximately 2 feet wide, 4 feet long and 18-inches deep.
• Line whole with stones and heat for 2-3 hours using wood and/or charcoal.
• After 2-3 hours, remove coals and embers from stones and place 1/2 bushel fresh seaweed on top of the hot stones.
• **REMEMBER: the stones must be extremely hot to achieve adequate steam to cook.
• Now, work quickly to layer food on top of seaweed. Spread food evenly over each other in layers.
• First, place soft shells clams on seaweed;.
• Next, little necks;.
• Next, sausage and fish; To make it easier for removal, place these ingredients in a cheesecloth bag.:.
• Next, whole peeled onions, sweet and white potatoes;.
• Finally, place Lobsters on top of all.
• Cover food with clean white wet cloth and place remaining seaweed on top of cloth.
• Now, cover entire back with a wet tarpaulin, sealing steam in created by hot stones and seaweed.
• Only allow a samll amount of steam to escape to relieve pressure.
• Allow bake to cook 1 or more hours until potatoes are soft.

NEW ENGLAND CLAMBAKE

Steps:

• Put the potatoes and the chicken thighs in a large pot. Cover with salted water and boil, skimming and discarding any scum that rises, for about 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and the chicken thighs are cooked through. Drain and set aside.
• In the meantime, light the fire using hardwood charcoal. Place the corn in a large bowl of water and soak thoroughly, about 20 to 30 minutes.
• When the coals are red in the center with ash around them, the fire is ready. Put the lobsters and corn on the rotisserie grill. Arrange the potatoes, chicken, and sausage on top of the grill and top with the clams. Cook for 45 minutes. Serve with melted butter.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM PIE

Steps:

• Place clam juice, potatoes, carrots, and onion in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes.
• Add clams and salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix flour with light cream or milk (heavy cream will make the mixture too thick), and stir into the clam mixture.
• Bring to boil, stirring until the mixture thickens, remove from heat. Let mixture cool.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and prepare 1 pie shell in baking dish. Pour cooled mixture into the shell, and cover with the remaining shell, sealing the edges and poking airholes in the top.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 400, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook about 30 minutes longer, until the crust is golden brown.
• Let the pie cool in order to let the filling set.

ULTIMATE CLAMBAKE

Steps:

• Before you leave the house, put the potatoes and a few large pinches of salt in a very large pot and add water to cover; bring to a boil and cook until they are about half done, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a container to take with you to beach.
• Take all the ingredients to the beach, along with a shovel, a tarp, a few garbage bags, a bucket, some cheesecloth, a box of matches, lots of newspaper, firewood and kindling. Find a spot above the high-water mark and dig a 4-by-2-by-2-foot hole. Build a fire in the hole with newspaper, kindling and some wood. (Keep everything else upwind of the fire.) Feed the fire quickly and steadily with more kindling and wood.
• Find about 30 rocks, each 6 by 4 inches or bigger. Start adding the rocks to the fire, a few at a time, slowly over the course of about an hour, while continuing to feed the fire with wood. While the rocks are heating, gather enough seaweed to half-fill 2 or 3 garbage bags.
• When the rocks are white hot (this should take about an hour), stop adding wood but let the fire continue to burn. Meanwhile, make 8 to 12 cheesecloth packages, each containing a few of the clams, mussels and potatoes. Peel back the husks of the corn but don't remove them; remove as much of the silk as you can, then fold the husks back into place.
• Remove any remaining wood from the fire with a shovel; a bed of coals topped by a layer of white-hot rocks should remain. Immediately dump the seaweed over the rocks, creating a layer at least 2 to 3 inches thick; no rocks should remain exposed or you will burn the food (and maybe the tarp). Sprinkle the seaweed with about a gallon of seawater. Put the cheesecloth packages, corn and lobsters in a single layer on top of the seaweed. Cover the food in an additional layer of seaweed and cover the entire pit with a tarp, weighing the edges of the tarp down with rocks.
• Cook undisturbed for 30 to 40 minutes. Put the butter in a heatproof saucepan. When the seafood is ready, peel back the tarp and put the pan of butter on the fire until it melts. Remove the tarp entirely, transfer the food to serving platters and serve everything with the melted butter, lemon wedges and more salt.

NEW ENGLAND-STYLE CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Melt butter in a stockpot over medium-high heat; cook and stir salt pork, celery, onion, and garlic in melted butter until softened, about 7 minutes. Add potatoes, clam juice, tarragon, celery salt, and bay leaves to the stockpot. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and place a cover on the pot. Cook at a simmer until potatoes are tender, about 35 minutes.
• Stir clams into the soup and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, heavy cream, dill, salt, and pepper; stir and cook another 7 minutes. Remove the pot from heat. Remove and discard bay leaves. Garnish with parsley to serve.