Good clam juice

[thebaker]

Hello

I am making a recipe and the chef who gave it to me told me to use a good brand of clam juice, he stressed that it was very important that it was good brand but did not give me a name of one.

Does anyone have one that I can get in NYC

thanks

[JosephB]

Doxsee is widely available and is very good. Doxsee has a long history of producing clam products on Long Island. Doxsee History You can find them at the Union Square Green Market, though I don't think they sell clam juice there.

Alternatively, you can reserve clam juice by opening and draining fresh clams. You can supplement this with some clam stock made by simmering the clam shells in some water. That's what I would do.

BTW, what are you making?

[thebaker]

I am making a shrimp bisque

[JosephB]

I am making a shrimp bisque

In that case, you can definately get away with a commercial product because the purest essence of clam is not critical in the finished product. On the other hand, a fresh shrimp stock would be key.

[thebaker]

I haveing been saving shrimp shells for the past few weeks just for the stock.

[JosephB]

I haveing been saving shrimp shells for the past few weeks just for the stock.

Excellent.

[budrichard]

If a source of freshly shucked clam juice was not available I would stay away from the canned or bottled variety, They invariably have a 'taste' to my palate. Using your shrimp shells is an excellent idea for a shrimp bisque. Some bones from a non oily fish such as flounder could be used in addition. Avoid the commercially prepared stuff. -Dick

[balmagowry]

If a source of freshly shucked clam juice was not available I would stay away from the canned or bottled variety, They invariably have a 'taste' to my palate. Using your shrimp shells is an excellent idea for a shrimp bisque. Some bones from a non oily fish such as flounder could be used in addition. Avoid the commercially prepared stuff. -Dick

Oh, the ironies. I've got quarts and quarts of clam juice in the freezer, and who knows when they'll ever get used, since I mostly use the juice for chowder and such, but of course when making chowder there is always the fresh juice from the clams being used, so just why exactly do I freeze all this extra clam juice? I wish I knew.

(Yes, of course, one reason is, you freeze the juice when you freeze the clams, so that you'll be able to make chowder in the winter. But then winter comes, and behold everyone suddenly has a Jones for pasta with clam sauce... so the next thing you know you've used up all those dozens of clams and none of the clam juice. But do I ever learn? Of course not. Clamming season will soon be upon us, and after gorging on the first few batches it will be time to start freezing them again. And someone will say, look at all this beautiful clam juice, we can't throw it away, let's freeze it... and the whole dratted business will begin all over again. Oy, what a life.)

[sabg]

i love to hear some secrets for the best clam sauce...i use cilantro instread of parsley

[balmagowry]

i love to hear some secrets for the best clam sauce...i use cilantro instread of parsley

I use neither - don't like cilantro. Fresh thyme, and lots of it. I'm blessed to live where I can dig my own clams and have them on the table within the hour, so I make clam sauce often. Often enough that I vary it according to the whim of the moment - but I always start with EVOO and garlic; always use fresh (or flash-frozen frezh) clams, coarsely chopped, and a little of their juice; always fresh-ground tellicherry pepper, always fresh thyme. Sometimes, if the fancy takes me, a little dry vermouth. Sometimes (latest fad, learned from a neighbor who clams with me) I "finish" the sauce with a lemon, quartered and the quarters cut into thickish slices; squeeze them gently over the sauce, then plop them in and give it a stir or two. It adds a nice clean ping to the sauce - and then I always end up eating the deliciously clam-imbued lemon slices (and everyone else's too) down to the rind. Or including the rind. Mmmmmm... perfect summer meal, over thin spaghetti. Can't wait for clam season; we've used up the freezer stash. Whose idea was all this snow?

[slbunge]

Oh, the ironies. I've got quarts and quarts of clam juice in the freezer, and who knows when they'll ever get used, since I mostly use the juice for chowder and such, but of course when making chowder there is always the fresh juice from the clams being used, so just why exactly do I freeze all this extra clam juice? I wish I knew.

Hmm...a little dry ice, a plastic-lined shipping container...

Shall I PM you my address?

[chow guy]

QUOTE (sabg @ Mar 8 2004, 07:57 AM)

i love to hear some secrets for the best clam sauce...i use cilantro instread of parsley

I use neither - don't like cilantro. Fresh thyme, and lots of it. I'm blessed to live where I can dig my own clams and have them on the table within the hour, so I make clam sauce often. Often enough that I vary it according to the whim of the moment - but I always start with EVOO and garlic; always use fresh (or flash-frozen frezh) clams, coarsely chopped, and a little of their juice; always fresh-ground tellicherry pepper, always fresh thyme. Sometimes, if the fancy takes me, a little dry vermouth.

[docsconz]

Clam sauce is perhaps my specialty. I use my mother's recipe. It is true comfort food for me. The key is the clams. I use cherrystones. The smaller varieties like little necks or vongole verace just don't provide enough juice or flavor. I shuck the clams retaining all the juice (about 2 dozen per pound of pasta (generally linguine, although spaghetti is probably more commonly used in Campania in my experience. I then take the clams and since I've reserved the juice, I rinse the clams to get rid of any sand or grit that may be clinging to them and then chop them into smaller pieces. I saute a boatload of garlic in nice EVOO add a handfull of fresh italian parsley and then the clams and a little black pepper. Cook the pasta, add it to the sauce and voila, a little bit of heaven.

[balmagowry]

The key is the clams. I use cherrystones. The smaller varieties like little necks or vongole verace just don't provide enough juice or flavor.

Yes! Besides, the small ones are so delicate, it seems silly to do anything with them but eat them raw. Well, maybe steam them in a little white wine....

Actually, I tend to go to the other end of the spectrum entirely. We generally dispense with the formal size classifications, dividing any catch into two batches, Eaters and Chowders. Eaters are anything up to, say 2" across (maybe 3" if my father is at table), and unless they're being kept for a "display" dish - paella, cioppino, etc., or one of the baked things like casino - straight to the "raw bar" they go. Everything above that size, and on up to 7" across is a Chowder: those get steamed open, shucked and chopped; those that don't go straight into chowder or sauce get frozen in 1- and 2-dozen increments. (Anything above 7" is classified as a Military Weapon.) Same with the juice: it is strained through a fine filter and whatever isn't needed immediately gets frozen in pint containers (so that at the end of the winter I can wonder what the hell I'm going to do with it all!).

One nice thing in summer is that you never know when you may suddenly find yourself having clam sauce. This is because whenever I'm not on an actual mission (as in, we've lured guests with the promise of steamers and chowders, so I have to plan for the tide, go to the serious clam flats and deliver) my clamming is kind of aleatory, an unintended consequence of a different activity. At the end of a long day in the garden I'll meet my neighbor for a swim and be wading into the bay when - ooooops! suddenly there's that unmistakable lump underfoot. Next thing you know I'm pulling them up and stuffing them into my suit and hunching over trying not to look too lumpily pregnant as the pile of clams of all sizes keeps growing. I just... can't help it. Step on a clam, I gotta pull it up. My neighbor grinds her teeth with frustration; unlike me, she doesn't have the hereditary Magic Toes. But she doesn't lose by these episodes, because as often as not I hand over the entire catch. Whereupon she invites me to dinner. Or if I keep the haul I invite her. So it all comes out in the wash.

Clam sauce over linguini or over the very thin spaghetti, the kind almost as fine as capelli d'angelo. Quick, someone, run out to the garden and pick some things for a salad.

Oh oh oh oh... is it summer yet?

Edited March 9, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[Gale]

Oh, the ironies. I've got quarts and quarts of clam juice in the freezer, and who knows when they'll ever get used, since I mostly use the juice for chowder and such, but of course when making chowder there is always the fresh juice from the clams being used, so just why exactly do I freeze all this extra clam juice? I wish I knew.

Hmm...a little dry ice, a plastic-lined shipping container...

Shall I PM you my address?

Drat. You beat me to the punch!