When I recently went to San Jose to pick up our visiting daughter, the next stop after the airport was Hai Thanh, which is just exotic enough on its own to be somewhat of a tourist attraction. When we arrived home, I stored our purchases in the frig under bags of ice and we had several days of fine dining.
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large soup pot, add the shallots and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic, tomatoes, spices, broth and wine and cook for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes start to break down. Add the clams, cover and cook over medium heat until the clams open, about 7 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile cook the linguine in a large pot of salted, boiling water until just tender. Transfer the linguine to a large serving platter, cover with the clams and broth and toss.
Clams Casino
12 cherrystone or littleneck clams
1/2 red bell pepper, fire roasted and peeled
4 TB unsalted butter at room temperature
a 3 inch line of anchovy paste (about 1 TB)
3 strips of bacon, cut crosswise into quarters (12 squares)
rock salt or crumbled tin foil
Place the clams on a plate and put into the microwave for one minute on high power. Remove those clams that are starting to open and take off the top shell. Repeat once or twice until all the clams are opened. Blend the butter and the anchovy paste together until smooth and blended and place a teaspoon of the butter under each clam. Finely dice the red pepper and divide the dice among the tops of the clams. Cover each clam with a strip of bacon. Pour 2 to 3 cups of rock salt into a broiler-proof pan and nestle the clams into the rock salt so that when the butter melts, it will stay in the shell. Broil about 8 inches from the heat until the bacon is crisp. Serve with lemon wedges.
Save the shells, boil them clean and you will have a pretty container for the next recipe.
Baked Stuffed Clams
1/4 cup shallot, minced
1/4 cup celery, minced
1/4 red bell pepper, minced
1/4 green bell pepper, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 TB butter
1 TB olive oil
1 tsp oregano
2 TB minced parsley
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs
2 TB lemon juice
2 3.53 oz. pouches whole baby clams
raw bacon in square pieces
Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet. Saute vegetables until just tender. Combine the vegetables with the other ingredients, except the bacon, and place in saved clam shells or ramekins. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cover each with a bacon square and continue to bake until the bacon is crisp.