Michael & Marilyn's Famous Clam Sauce (with steamed clam bonus)



We tried making clam sauce at home, and got terrible results for years and almost gave up. We had been using canned clams and the juice that came in the clam can, and then
I had an inspiration -- I threw out the canned juice, and substituted the juice that came from the clams that I had just nuked. It was heavenly. Here's the recipe:



Get two dozen fresh littleneck clams, (roughly 2.5 - 3" in diameter). You can keep them in the fridge for a couple of
days before use.  

Put a big pot in your sink. Start filling it with cold water, and put the clams in the pot, one by one. If any of the clams have opened, tap lightly on the shell. If the clam doesn't close, throw it out. 

Every  10 - 15 minutes, dump the water out, and fill again. Continue this rinse cycle for an hour or more. The more you rinse, the less sand in the clams. 

Take out enough clams to fill a microwavable bowl. Hold each one under running water and rub off any clinging dirt. Put them in the bowl, without any clam on top of another.

Steam the clams in your microwave, as described above. Save the juice. You can freeze it if you're not making the sauce right away. 

Chop up a huge onion, and two big garlics.

Pour olive oil into a large skillet (one of those things that used to be called a frying pan.) Let it get about a half-inch
deep.

When the oil is hot, carefully dump in the chopped onions and garlic, and spread it around. Add about a half-stick of butter, maybe three tablespoons of oregano, and, if you feel like it, red or white pepper and maybe some parsley.

​

Stir every few minutes, for approx. ten minutes.



When the onions have gotten a little bit browned, carefully dump in the clams (BUT NOT THE JUICE) from four cans of chopped clams, or a quart of fresh chopped clams, if you can get them.

Add the juice from the clams you cooked in the microwave.

Add 4 - 6 ounces of dry white wine.

Stir every few minutes, as the mixture simmers.

Cook your linguine, and pour on the sauce.

MANGIA! (eat!)

Any sauce left in your plate should be sopped up with Italian bread (stale is OK), or added to clam chowder.

Michael's Attempt to Copy Whitey's Special Clams



When I can't get to Guilford, and in the off-season when The Place is closed, I satisfy my craving with my own imitation of the famous Whitey's specials:

Rinse four or five dozen large littleneck or small cherrystone clams (2 - 2.5" in diameter).

Put a big pot in your sink. Start filling it with cold water, and put the clams in the pot, one by one. If any of the clams have opened, tap lightly on the shell. If the clam doesn't close, throw it out.



Every  10 - 15 minutes, dump the water out, and fill again. Continue this rinse cycle for an hour or more. The more
you rinse, the less sand in the clams.

Put as many as will fit on your barbecue grill, with medium heat and the cover down, if you have a cover.

Periodically raise the cover, and remove clams as they pop open. Put them in a bowl or pot that can collect the juices.

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When the opened clams have cooled enough to handle comfortably, rip off the part of the shell that doesn't hold
the clam body, and throw it away, or make it into jewelry.

Put a blob of cocktail sauce, and a dab of butter or margarine, and maybe some lemon juice, onto each clam in its shell. Put it back on the grill.

When a clam starts to sizzle, take it off the grill, and eat it.
 

Amateurs will safely use forks. Pros will want to slurp, but be careful not to burn your lips on the hot shells.

If it's snowing really hard, use your oven instead of your barbecue grill.