Clams in Wine & Chorizo

CLAMMING SEEMED like a dicey proposition to me as a kid. I remember watching my dad wade out to his neck looking for quahogs. This was on Cape Cod, near the Eel River. Eels had the run of the place, I was told.

To get the quahogs, you had to feel along the bottom with your feet. This was the sort of goopy bottom that us kids desperately tried to avoid touching at all. But I discovered early on that I loved the taste—the whole ritual—of eating what we simply called steamers. 

Littleneck clams around Puget Sound are more forgiving. With short siphons, they’re usually found in the top few inches of substrate and often higher up in the intertidal zone, no swimming required. 

Steamed Clams in Wine and Chorizo

1 onion, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound chorizo
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp salt
2 (or more) tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup vermouth
2 heaping tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
2 lbs live littlenecks, scrubbed

In a deep casserole or pot, sauté the onion, garlic, yellow pepper, and cumin seeds in olive oil until the veggies are soft, then add the chorizo and cook until lightly browned. Next add the wine and vermouth and bring to a boil. Add the clams and cover. When the clams have opened, stir in the cilantro and serve with good bread.

4 thoughts on “Clams in Wine & Chorizo

  1. Chickenofthewoods

    Awesome post. I love your blog.

    But I’m gonna have to start checking before I blog. In addition to the synchronous Chris Matherly issue, I was considering posting about crawfishing as a young boy, in Louisiana… yee-haw!

    Reply
  2. Finspot

    Crawfishing? I want to hear it! Years ago I had the great fortune of losing an alternator in Chacahoula, LA, during a x-country drive. My friend Warpo and I stuffed ourselves silly on local crawdads for the next 24 hrs while waiting for his unlicensed and uninsured Funky Fresh Seville to be repaired. The mechanic even let us tent out on the property.

    Keep surprising us with all that weird & wonderful stuff on the ChickenBlog!

    Reply

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