Clams---My first time

[Cheffie3]

While at the store Sunday, I bought 15 fresh large clams (Quahogs). I decided to make clam chowder. I put them in the fridge covered with wet paper towels. When I took them out this evening, all except one were still closed, so I tossed it. My problem is after I cooked the clams, when I tried to clean/mince them, all the bellies were disgusting. Some had green in the middle, others had what appeard to be worms, and the texture of the bellies were really soft and mushy. I ended up tossing them all. Is this normal? They didn't have a foul odor or anything.

After I bought the clams, I came home and read through various cookbooks, in which all recommended small cherrystone clams (I should have read before I bought). Anyway, I'd like to know what to expect from fresh clams when steaming. How much of the clam is usually edible? Any advice on buying, storage, cooking and cleaning would be most appreciated.

Thanks

[Jinmyo]

You bought therm Sunday. This is Wednesday.

[pjs]

Cheffie3, don't give up on fresh clams. There are so many amazing things you can do with them--raw, chowder, Chinese style with black bean sauce, Italian style in soup or a pasta sauce, etc. Stick to littlenecks (small size) or cherrystones (med. size) and buy them from someone you trust. Wash them when you get home and store in the fridge in an uncovered bowl no longer than a day or two. Quality clams of these sizes don't need to be cleaned once opened except for any small amount of sand they contain. Chowder is kind of difficult for a novice as you have to open the clams before cooking and save their juice if you want to do it right. A good beginners recipe would be M. Hazen's clam soup. I made this two days ago. Very simple, very easy, very good.

PJ

PS I'd like to post the original Howard Johnston's New England Clam Chowder recipe--I have a copy of it from a reliable inside source--but need to test it one more time.

[Nick]

I don't know about quahogs or cherrystones, just regular Maine clams and what we call hen clams (probably like quahogs) which we mostly use for fritters.

Regular clams can be kept for at least four or five days (uncovered) in the bottom drawer of your fridge (kept at 33-35 degrees.) This is assuming you're not in a city where the clams are already days and days old when you buy them.

Before using, put them in a bowl and rinse them with fresh cold water until they come clean. I put them in the bowl, fill with water, and stir them around by hand. It's sort of like washing brown rice only bigger. If you just want steamed clams, that's all there is to it. Otherwise continue.

Next, if you want to shuck them for chowder, fritters, or frying - have the clams in a bowl or suitable container, heat water to boiling (enough to cover the clams), and pour over clams. Let sit for 1/2 minute, pour off, and cover with cold water. You can then open without a knife, the neck skins will come off easily, and all the juice will still be inside to add flavor to whatever you're cooking.

That's it for now. Got to get to bed soon. A fisherman drove all the way down here today from Gloucester, Mass to have me work on his winches. He just got done tuna-ing and wants to get back to dragging (groundfishing) as soon as possible. Big cod are bringing $2 right now. So, I've got to get these done. (This is a day boat.)

[Saffy]

Nice to see a timely discussion here on clams/cockles.

We are lucky enough to live beside the sea, this past weekend we went and dug up a bucket of clams/cockles, cooked them up with a garlic and light chile sauce and ate them over pasta. Yum!

We never have the not fresh enough problem, we ate them less than an hour after we dug them up.

Fresh clams/cockles are great, don't give up on them.

[Cheffie3]

Saffy, Nickn and PJS: thanks for the tips about cleaning and storing. And no, I haven't given up on clams, I even went to the store last night to buy more, but the shells were open so I opted for the canned variety. Thanks again!!!

Cheffie