Jump Right In: Grilled Clams with Mignonette
This Memorial Day weekend, I decided to push my luck. I roped and tied that hot young thing I've been seeing, threw him in the trunk of my Cabrio, and drove him to my parent's house in North Carolina. I've wasted enough time being sane & normal; I figured I'd hasten the inevitable and push this thing off a cliff sooner than later.
The Kid is a food maniac, so he made himself at home in my mother's kitchen, immediately. At the end of the first day, there was a gorgeously carved standing rib roast, mushroom pan sauce, grilled corn, caponata...he had her kitchen singing arias without so much as a grocery list.
But as if that weren't enough, Kid-alicious is a forager. He's a member of the mycology association, which is about as chess clubby as the food world gets. As soon as he saw the river out my parent's window, he started asking about clamming. My parents knew nothing about it because clamming would require a person to get in the river. River forays are as incomprehensible to my parents as finding a good man is to me.
But they'd seen locals clam, and oyster, so apparently they were there. My father warned him of the depth and speed of the river, and in a matter of hours, my parents and I found ourselves standing on the edge of a dock, waving him goodbye.
He lept into that muddy rapid with a heavy shovel and the courage of a warrior; we held our breath until he surfaced. He appeared and grew: That scary, allegedly alligator-filled river was all of three feet deep. He laughed at our Northern-ness, and spent the next 20 minutes raking the silt with his hands (for those similarly inspired: rakes work better than shovels), until we begged him to come in from the river.
I made a mignonette, scrubbed the silt from the clams, and threw them on a grill. There were more than enough for several meals. The smaller clams were sweet and tender; we reserved their hunky big brothers for a chowder.
Well, joke's on me. Turns out he's better than I knew, and everyone was scratching their heads as to what I'd done right this time. As I've been told, that's how it can be with a foray: you gotta open your eyes and look, because you never know what you'll find.
Grilled Clams with Mignonette
by Allison Fishman
I'm clearly not the kind of girl who is going to cover the flavor of fresh shellfish with an obscuring (though delicious) cocktail sauce; mignonette is more my style. I've always enjoyed its refreshing acidity and chunky pieces of shallot, but I've never made one. I winged this, and recommend you do the same. The sauce works well with clams grilled open, or raw clams shucked.
1/3 cup combined vinegars, definitely including red wine vinegar, and also cider, sherry, champagne, or rice wine
2 tablespoons minced shallot, red onion, vidalia, or a combination
2 teaspoons chopped tarragon and/or chives
2. Place clams on a very hot grill until they open (no more than 3 minutes), or steam them open on the burner. Avoid overcooking; if you do, simply chop up the clams and save them for a clam sauce.
3. Served open clams with the mignonette.
The Kid is a food maniac, so he made himself at home in my mother's kitchen, immediately. At the end of the first day, there was a gorgeously carved standing rib roast, mushroom pan sauce, grilled corn, caponata...he had her kitchen singing arias without so much as a grocery list.
But as if that weren't enough, Kid-alicious is a forager. He's a member of the mycology association, which is about as chess clubby as the food world gets. As soon as he saw the river out my parent's window, he started asking about clamming. My parents knew nothing about it because clamming would require a person to get in the river. River forays are as incomprehensible to my parents as finding a good man is to me.
But they'd seen locals clam, and oyster, so apparently they were there. My father warned him of the depth and speed of the river, and in a matter of hours, my parents and I found ourselves standing on the edge of a dock, waving him goodbye.
He lept into that muddy rapid with a heavy shovel and the courage of a warrior; we held our breath until he surfaced. He appeared and grew: That scary, allegedly alligator-filled river was all of three feet deep. He laughed at our Northern-ness, and spent the next 20 minutes raking the silt with his hands (for those similarly inspired: rakes work better than shovels), until we begged him to come in from the river.
I made a mignonette, scrubbed the silt from the clams, and threw them on a grill. There were more than enough for several meals. The smaller clams were sweet and tender; we reserved their hunky big brothers for a chowder.
Well, joke's on me. Turns out he's better than I knew, and everyone was scratching their heads as to what I'd done right this time. As I've been told, that's how it can be with a foray: you gotta open your eyes and look, because you never know what you'll find.
Grilled Clams with Mignonette
by Allison Fishman
I'm clearly not the kind of girl who is going to cover the flavor of fresh shellfish with an obscuring (though delicious) cocktail sauce; mignonette is more my style. I've always enjoyed its refreshing acidity and chunky pieces of shallot, but I've never made one. I winged this, and recommend you do the same. The sauce works well with clams grilled open, or raw clams shucked.
1/3 cup combined vinegars, definitely including red wine vinegar, and also cider, sherry, champagne, or rice wine
2 tablespoons minced shallot, red onion, vidalia, or a combination
2 teaspoons chopped tarragon and/or chives
2 or 3 dozen freshly caught small clams, scrubbed
1. Combine vinegars, onion, and herbs until you're satisfied with the flavor.
2. Place clams on a very hot grill until they open (no more than 3 minutes), or steam them open on the burner. Avoid overcooking; if you do, simply chop up the clams and save them for a clam sauce.
3. Served open clams with the mignonette.
posted by Allison Fishman Task at 2:21 PM
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