Grilled Clams: You Can Make These, Too

The lovely wife and our friend from London, staying at the beach with us for the weekend, wanted to make grilled clams. Who am I to say no. Now that I've done it, it is perhaps easier than steaming them. Because the natural saltiness of the clams is not diluted by the water they are steamed in, grilled clams have a very distinctive, briny taste. Its worth trying once to see if its for you. Personally, I think I prefer steamed, but these are good for a change

INGREDIENTS
Clams

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED
Grill with cover
tongs
bowl

INSTRUCTIONS
Place grill on high. Wash clams thougroughly and place on grill. Cover. Check every few minutes until the clams fully open. Keep on grill about one minute longer than that and remove with tongs to bowl. Try to keep the clam juice that builds up at the bottom of the shell. Serve with lemon, hot sauce or cocktail sauce.

Greetings from Kittery Point Maine: Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier

If you start the drive from New York City to Maine somewhat early in the morning, you can pass over the Piscataqua Bridge on I95 between New Hampshire and Maine by about lunch. And, that being the case, you should make a bee line for a nearby lobster place. Luckily for you, the Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier is to be found in Kittery Point, a short drive from exit 2 on I95 once you get into Maine (16 Chauncey Creek Road, Kittery Point, ME 03905: 207-439-1030).

Chauncey Creek is located on the creek itself. It consists of several small buildings (one to cook lobsters and the other two seemingly to cook everything else they serve). There are many tables overlooking the creek. They are covered, and if you go in winter, there is a heated area. The lobsters and steamers were quite tasty. They are the only place I have ever been that sells lobster rolls on a round bun. The only thing they don't sell that I like is fried clams. However, if there is something that you want that they don't have, you can feel free to bring it in. This includes beer, wine, and for that matter, fried clams. They are pretty cool about all of that stuff.

Getting up at 6:30 to make the drive north is hard. Stopping at Chauncey's 5 minutes after you get over the bridge reminds you why its worth it.

Greetings From Maine: Cindy's

I am back from visiting day, our annual pilgrimage to Maine to visit Boy#1 at camp. Last time we flew, which wasn't so great. This time we drove, which wasn't much better, but at least we were able to stop at many places along the way. Although I am still deciding, I think I will also drive when I go to pick him up at "Father's Weekend (sexists!) with boy #2. After all, a multitude of eateries await.

Today, I am going to write about Cindy's, which is located at 174 Yarmouth Road (Route 1), just north of Exit 17 from Interstate 295. You can call 207-865-1635 to see if they are open. It took us less than five minutes to get there from LL Bean. I can't find it on Google Maps! If you can, let me know. Cindy's, as you can see from the picture, is a roadside series of shacks and some picnic tables. Lots of kitsch stuff, too. Its cool.

Cindy's is know for their fried clams. And rightly so. The lovely wife and agree that these are some of the best (if not the best) fried clams we have ever eaten. I had fish and chips, which was cheap and remarkably good, too. Onion rings were great. They bake their own desserts, and the whoopie pie WAS the best I have ever had as well.

We arrived early for lunch, avoiding the crowds. They cook by the order, so be prepared to wait. Its also worth going to chat with Bob Pottle, who owns the place, and gives a little touch of Maine with every word out of his mouth.

There is a clam lovers web site (who knew!) that also has nothing but good things to say about Cindy's. They have some nice photos as well.

Paella, the Male Martha Way

I have to admit, my decision to try to make paella was spontaneous, and I really didn't have a recipe as a guide. I went to Wikipedia, which gave me a very Valencian view of the whole subject. I also Googled the words Paella Recipe and looked at some of them, although I focused mostly on this one. I then decided to do my own thing, using all of this as a guide. This seems to be the general sense of paella anyway: a mix of rice and stuff that would taste good in rice. Oh yeah, and saffron, which really does help. I admit there seem to be a zillion ingredients, but its actually not that bad.

I bought my seafood from Citarella. Although there may be other places to get it, and I'm sure its cheaper at those places (oh, how I am sure of this), their seafood is well cleaned which cuts out a lot of the work you need to do, particularly with squid and muscles. The other thing about seafood is when to put each part into the paella. Although I expand on this more in the recipe, clams and similar thick shell bivalves should be put in pretty early, muscles next, squid after that, then shrimp, and scallops right before serving.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups Basmati Rice (either clean and dry or soaked)
3-4 Chicken thighs, cut into pieces and skinless
4 ounces of chorizo (I used dry, but fresh may taste better if you can get it)
Chicken stock, 2 to 4 cups
White wine 1 cup (you can substitute 1/2 cup of vermouth)
Water (have at least 2 to 4 cups ready)
Olive Oil to saute'
One onion, thinly sliced
One red pepper, ringed and quartered
Two medium tomatoes
1/2 cup of frozen peas
four cloves garlic, sliced

salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
10 saffron threads

5 ounces cleaned squid, ringed
1 1/2 pounds cleaned muscles
6 clams
4 ounces scallops
3/4 pound large shrimp, deveined and shelled

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

Large, deep pan with cover for paella (you can buy an actual paella pan, but you better a) have a lot of space and b) really like to make paella.

INSTRUCTIONS

Add crushed saffron and white pepper to one cup of stock and set aside. Liberally add olive oil to pan and saute the onions in the pan until golden brown and then remove. Add chicken and chorizo and saute as well. Add back onions and add rice. Toast rice but don't burn. Add the stock with spices and stir. Add the wine. Add two other cups of either stock or a mix of stock and water. You will likely have to add some salt at this time as well (1 teaspoon if minimal stock, 1/2 teaspoon if lots of stock). Add the peppers. Stir, make sure heat is low, and cover for 5 to 10 minutes. Its OK to peek and make sure that the rice is not sticking to itself.

Adding the seafood is a bit of an art. Add the clams first, and cover the mixture. Add the muscles several minutes later. Stir, and cover the mixture. Add the squid several minutes after this and, again, stir and cover. You may as well add the peas at this time, too. You can add a bit of water or stock if things look like they are drying out. If the rice almost tastes ready, add the shrimp, which takes 4 minutes to cook. Scallops should be added right before you turn off the heat (two or three minutes for smaller scallops). Its done when the rice is done, the seafood looks cooked and your hungry and tired from all this work. The shells should have opened on the bivalves. The total cooking time from when you add the stock is a bit more than twenty minutes. Check taste and add salt if needed before serving.