Here goes cycle number three through Everyday Italian! Let me tell you, this round has started off with a bang. We're back once again in the "Everyday Antipasti" chapter in a new section: "Everyday Seafood Starters." Sounds delicious, right? Well, it was. But I'll have you know this recipe was no walk in the park. Allow me to tell you the story of Clams Oreganata.
My first order of business was to buy some clams. I read through the recipe and learned that I needed fresh clams in their shells for this one. No big deal. Katie and I took a trip to the grocery store last night and I got a dozen of them (or so I thought. Mr. Seafood Man decided I needed 16 clams because he didn't know I asked for 12 which was MORE than I needed). I got the clams home, but them in a bowl of ice, and covered them with a wet paper towel.
That brings us to today. There was a lack of communication between my mother and I on how the clams were going to be cooked, so she told me to just stick them in a bowl of water for five minutes. I did this and didn't see any of them opening up. This concerned me seeing as a closed clam is a dead clam. I was also concerned that they themselves were alive. As I reached into the bowl to get them out of the water, I had this terrible image of one jumping out and clamping onto me. Yes, I know, this is highly unlikely. And probably impossible.
My mom didn't know I needed to actually open the clams before cooking them. Thank God for the Internet. After searching both chow.com and foodnetwork.com for tips on working with clams and failing, I turned to bing. From there, I found a video from a Legal Seafood worker on how to shuck clams. He went on and on about the difference between and oyster knife and a clam knife. I didn't have either. He then proceeded to show me exactly how to open the clams, then get the actual meat out of them. I was completely grossed out.
After my education, I went for it. First, I went at the clams with a butter knife. Lesson learned: a butter knife will NOT open a clam. After giving it some thought, I went for the sharp knife. I couldn't use the same shucking stance that Mr. Legal Seafood used because if I slipped, my palm would have been sliced open. Instead, I went at it vertically so if anyone were to get hurt, it would be the counter top. That being said, I didn't sustain two minor injuries. Nothing that some Band-Aids couldn't fix.
I will also note here that I felt like a murderer the entire time I was doing this. You can tell me all you want that clams don't have feelings and wouldn't feel a thing if you kill them, but I'm pretty sure that they have to feel SOMETHING. Thank God they don't make any noises. I would have cried.
An hour after starting this endeavor, my clams were shucked and ready to go. I preheated the broiler and started the oreganata mixture. I mixed bread crumbs with oregano and parsley (the recipe called for mint too, but mine went bad so I used some basil instead) and a touch of olive oil. I then placed a clam into each shell and topped it with the bread crumb mixture. They went into the oven for about two minutes (obviously mine went a little longer, hence the over-browning of the crumbs).
These were definitely delicious, but I'm still trying to decide if the five minutes it took me to eat them was worth the hour and a half of making them. It was quite the adventure though. And I can now proudly say that I have shucked clams!! Not too shabby!
Check back on Monday for some more food fun. My sister and brother-in-law are visiting this weekend and I can't wait!!!
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