ATDTDA (12) "There's a Howard Johnson's! Wanna eat some clams?"** [328:31]

[Henry]

Look, Ethel!

Wow! (Nice **) A tip'o'the'hat to Keith, the host with the most.  

Back in the late sixties - early seventies, the local Ho-Jo used to worry
about my buddies and me showing up for Wednesday night all-you-can-eat
"fried clams."  But...  those weren't fried clams, but only clam strips,
i.e. the neck/pisser of the clams without the rest of the body.  If you
order "steamers" in New York, you get soft-shell, long-neck, Ipswich
piss-clams. Many other places, when I've asked for steamers, I've received
small hard-shell clams. According to Legal Sea Foods, "Littlenecks are a
hard shell clam that can be steamed (e.g.
http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/p_staminea.html [hm]) or eaten raw
on a half shell (soft-shells are never eaten raw, not even as sushi). An
Ipswich steamer clam is a soft-shell belly clam that is traditionally
steamed and dipped."  But fried whole clams are always small piss-clams and
include the tasty "bellies." 

Keith's recipe for steamers is spot on, with the added advise to scrub the
shells under cold water before steaming, don't use any clams that won't shut
when you're cleaning them, and don't eat any clams that remain shut after
they're steamed. 

Here's a recipe for fried clams: http://www.recipezaar.com/233042 (If you
ever have an extra hour to kill at Boston's Logan Airport, try the fried
clams at the branch of Jasper White's Summer Shack in Terminal A (much
better than Legal, in fact best food at Logan, period).

Henry M 
http://www.urdomain.us/scuffling.htm 

-----Original Message-----
From: Keith

[328:31] "Who, me? I'm as happy as a Long Island steamer clam"

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SOFT CLAM
Mya arenaria

<snip>

CULINARY DESCRIPTION

This is a wonderful clam and can be consumed in a variety of ways.  
Scrub and rinse the clams before cooking them. They do tend to be  
gritty sometimes, so some people recommend purging the clams in cold  
saltwater for at least two hours. This allows the clams to pump out  
any sand. Live clams should sink to the bottom; if there are any  
floaters, discard them.

Since they are often called steamers, you can well imagine that soft-  
shell clams are best steamed. All you need to do is put about 1/2  
inch of water in a pan, bring it to a boil, add the clams, put the  
lid back on, and steam until they open -- approximately 5-10 minutes.  
To add flavor, you can add garlic and olive oil or white wine to  
develop the broth because when the clams open, they add flavor to the  
broth -- their liquor flows out and enhances the clam flavor. Next,  
you'll want to let the clams cool a little so you can handle them.  
Pour the broth into cups for each person and give each a separate  
dish of melted butter. To eat your first clam, pull it out of its  
shells by its neck, peel the skin off the neck, then hold the clam by  
the neck, dip it in the broth first, then the butter, and then pop it  
in you mouth -- Great! If you like spicy foods, try dipping the clams  
in crab seasoning after the butter. It is also popular to bread or  
batter these clams and fry them. But, if you try the above, you'll  
never want another fried clam again.
   http://www.ocean.udel.edu/mas/seafood/softclam.html

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