California Clam Bake Recipes

CLAM BAKE

Steps:

• Place a potatoes in a layer in the bottom of a large pot. Cover with a layer of clams, then mussels, and finally the shrimp. Pour in the vermouth and enough chicken broth to fill the pot halfway. You may not need all of the broth, depending on the size of your pot. Cut a half cup of the butter into cubes and place on top of the seafood. Cover with a lid, and seal tightly with aluminum foil.
• Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat, and carefully remove the foil and lid. Remove the seafood and potatoes from the liquid and serve on a large platter, family-style.
• Melt 1/2 cup of reserved butter, and divide into 4 individual dishes for dipping. Serve with French bread and remaining softened butter for the bread.

CLAM BAKE

Steps:

• The ingredients listed are suggested. Feel free to use whatever ingredients your party likes and has available. This technique is for an indoor clambake. Optimally, a clambake is held on the beach in a rock lined sand pit in which a fire has been going for hours and the red embers have heated the rocks to over 400 degrees. Placing the large wash tin on a few lit burners on the stovetop can create a similar effect. Place rocks down first. Let heat for 15 minutes. Once rocks are hot, place seaweed on rocks then begin to insert the clams. Place one pie tin above the clams. Place leeks and butter in the tin, cover with the second tin. Continue adding rest of ingredients. Pour 2 gallons of fresh water (or sea water if possible) over entire tub. Cover tightly and let steam and cook for at least 20 minutes. When eggs on top have become hard-boiled, the rest of ingredients should be cooked as well. Plate and eat.

CLAM BAKE ON THE BEACH

Steps:

• Dig a shallow pit in the sand and line it with large stones. Pile wood on top of the coals. Burn the wood for 1 to 2 hours until the rocks are red hot; rake off the ashes. Set 1 cinder block on each corner of the pit to form the base; lay a barbecue grate on top to make a table.
• While the stones are heating prepare the herb butter: Mix the butter with the cheese and herbs; season it with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Place a thick layer of seaweed on the grate. Place a layer of potatoes on the rack and cover them with a thin layer of seaweed. Put the corn on next and then another thin layer of seaweed. Now put on the kielbasa and top it with a thin layer of seaweed. Next mound the clams on top and cover with a thick layer of seaweed. Cover the entire bake with burlap or a tarp soaked in sea water. Keep the tarp wet by pouring sea water over the top if needed. Cook until the clams open and the potatoes are tender, about 1 hour.
• Pull the husks back from the corn and remove the silk. Brush generously with the herb butter and garnish with grated Parmesan.

SEAFOOD CLAMBAKE

Steps:

• For the clambake: Preheat a grill or prepare coals in a fire pit with a grill grate to high heat. Combine 8 cups water and the House Seasoning in a large, deep roasting pan. Add the potatoes and sausage. Place on the grill grate, cover with foil and bring the water to a boil. Let boil 6 minutes. Add the corn, mussels, clams, lemons and onions. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the lobster tails and shrimp. Dot the top with the butter and pour the wine over the top. Cover and cook until the corn is tender and all the seafood is done, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the Bloody Mary Cocktail Sauce: Stir together the ketchup, horseradish, Worcestershire, lemon juice, garlic, vodka, hot sauce and celery seeds in a medium bowl. Serve the seafood clambake with the cocktail sauce and the white wine-butter pan sauce.
• Stir together the garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container.

ONE POT CLAM BAKE

Steps:

• Place a steamer basket in 30-quart pot. Add wine and 12 cups water; cover and bring to a boil. Add potatoes; cover and cook 5 minutes. Add lobsters and eggs; cover and cook 10 minutes. Gently nestle corn and next 6 ingredients (and littlenecks, if using) in pot. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Add Manila clams or steamers (if using), cover, and cook 10 minutes. Add mussels, cover, and cook until shellfish open, about 5 minutes (discard any that do not open). Peel 1 egg and cut in half. If it's hard-boiled, lobsters are ready.
• Using a slotted spoon and tongs, transfer clambake to a very large platter or a table covered with newspaper. Sprinkle with spice mix. Pour broth from pot into small bowls, leaving any sediment behind. Serve clambake with broth and melted butter.

SHEET-PAN NEW ENGLAND CLAM BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Place potatoes in a 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning; toss to coat. Bake until tender, 25-30 minutes. Using a potato masher, flatten potatoes to 1/2-in. thickness; remove and keep warm., Add corn, mussels, clams, shrimp and chorizo to same pan; top with potatoes. Pour wine into pan. Squeeze lemon wedges over top; add to pan., Combine butter, garlic, seafood seasoning and Cajun seasoning. Pour half the butter mixture over top. Bake until shrimp turn pink and mussels and clams open, 20-25 minutes. Discard any unopened mussels or clams., Drizzle with remaining butter mixture. Sprinkle with pepper; top with parsley. If desired, serve with bread.

ULTIMATE CLAMBAKE

Steps:

• Before you leave the house, put the potatoes and a few large pinches of salt in a very large pot and add water to cover; bring to a boil and cook until they are about half done, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a container to take with you to beach.
• Take all the ingredients to the beach, along with a shovel, a tarp, a few garbage bags, a bucket, some cheesecloth, a box of matches, lots of newspaper, firewood and kindling. Find a spot above the high-water mark and dig a 4-by-2-by-2-foot hole. Build a fire in the hole with newspaper, kindling and some wood. (Keep everything else upwind of the fire.) Feed the fire quickly and steadily with more kindling and wood.
• Find about 30 rocks, each 6 by 4 inches or bigger. Start adding the rocks to the fire, a few at a time, slowly over the course of about an hour, while continuing to feed the fire with wood. While the rocks are heating, gather enough seaweed to half-fill 2 or 3 garbage bags.
• When the rocks are white hot (this should take about an hour), stop adding wood but let the fire continue to burn. Meanwhile, make 8 to 12 cheesecloth packages, each containing a few of the clams, mussels and potatoes. Peel back the husks of the corn but don't remove them; remove as much of the silk as you can, then fold the husks back into place.
• Remove any remaining wood from the fire with a shovel; a bed of coals topped by a layer of white-hot rocks should remain. Immediately dump the seaweed over the rocks, creating a layer at least 2 to 3 inches thick; no rocks should remain exposed or you will burn the food (and maybe the tarp). Sprinkle the seaweed with about a gallon of seawater. Put the cheesecloth packages, corn and lobsters in a single layer on top of the seaweed. Cover the food in an additional layer of seaweed and cover the entire pit with a tarp, weighing the edges of the tarp down with rocks.
• Cook undisturbed for 30 to 40 minutes. Put the butter in a heatproof saucepan. When the seafood is ready, peel back the tarp and put the pan of butter on the fire until it melts. Remove the tarp entirely, transfer the food to serving platters and serve everything with the melted butter, lemon wedges and more salt.