Can You Freeze Clams Casino
- Can You Freeze Clams Casino
- Can I Freeze Clams Casino
- Can You Make Clams Casino And Freeze Them
- Can You Freeze Clams Casino
Learn about the Rhode Island-born dish. Plus, a recipe from Matunuck Oyster Bar.
CLASSIC RHODY DISH: Clams Casino
You can freeze the live clams in the shells or shucked. If you choose to keep clams in shells, you must make sure that the shells are closed. Opened shells mean that the clams are dead. Clams in shells can keep in the freezer for about 3 months. You could probably just put them in the fridge, but I like going from the freezer to the broiler. That way your partially cooked (if you steamed them) clams won’t overcook when you’re heating them up later. When you’re ready to eat the clams casino, place a rack as high as it can go in your oven and start up the broiler. Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until crisp and golden, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a plate.
Digging up the dish’s history with a recipe from Matunuck Oyster Bar.
The origins of clams casino are debatable, but theory suggests that the dish was first introduced at the Narragansett Pier Casino. According to Kate Vivian, coordinator at the Towers, then-chef Julius Keller cited in his 1939 memoir, Inns and Outs, that he prepared the clams with stuffing and bacon for a private luncheon when resort guest Mrs. Paran Stevens requested a special clam dish. If there was any type of early documentation, it may have been destroyed when the Narragansett resort burned down on September 12, 1900, where the trademark granite Towers remain today.
Matunuck Oyster Bar serves a traditional Clams Casino using only native clams. Executive chef Jeff Cruff prefers top necks but littlenecks work, too. “My theory on doing these dishes is I don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Cruff says. “The trick is consistency. It could be crumbly, it could be gooey, it could be sticky; the key is getting the right combination of ingredients because there’s moisture left in the clams and that will be absorbed.”
Can You Freeze Clams Casino
Some folks do not like to shuck clams—it is hard and you need to know what you are doing. Google a video on it to watch prior to attempting or you can put the clams on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until clams pop open. (Remember: if a clam stays shut tight, discard it.). At her NYC chocolate shop Stick With Me Sweets, Susanna Yoon (formerly of Per Se) makes edible miniature works of art. These colorful, marbleized, portable chocolate domes are packed with the flavors and textures of some of Susanna’s favorite desserts, which include a kalamansi meringue pie, and the vero, a silver blue bonbon that houses a mix of sea salt caramel and crunchy pecan bits.
Can I Freeze Clams Casino
Besides the bacon, a key flavor comes from the liquor inside the clam shells. “When you shuck the clams, whatever juice is left from shucking goes right into the stuffing,” he says. 629 Succotash Rd., South Kingstown, 783-4202, rhodyoysters.com
Matunuck Oyster Bar Clams Casino
3–4 dozen littlenecks
2 cups small diced bacon (as small as you can cut it. Freezing the slices slightly will help make this process easier)
8 oz unsalted butter
½ Tbsp minced garlic
¼ cup minced shallots
1 cup small diced green peppers (no seeds and no white pith)
1 cup small diced red peppers (no seeds and no white pith)
2 oz dry sherry (any brand will do, but don’t use cooking sherry)
2 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp Tabasco sauce (or more if you like)
Salt and pepper to taste (approx. 1 Tbsp salt)
Juice left from shucking the clams
1 cup plain unseasoned bread crumbs
4 cups crushed Ritz crackers
Extra bacon to top the finished clams
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash and then shuck clams over a cookie sheet to catch the juice and set aside any juice. Put the clams on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and refrigerate until needed.
Add the bacon and butter to a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring often for 8–10 minutes or until you have rendered the fat from the bacon.
Add the garlic, shallots and both peppers to the bacon mixture and cook over medium heat until the peppers begin to soften, 6–8 minutes.
Add the sherry, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, Tabasco, salt, pepper and any clam juice. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Leave the mixture in the pan, set it aside to cool slightly.
Can You Make Clams Casino And Freeze Them
Once the mixture cools, add the plain bread crumbs and half of the Ritz crackers and mix to combine. Add enough of the remaining crushed crackers to achieve the correct consistency. It should be moist and not crumbly, but it should not be wet and pasty. Once cooled, fill the clams with the stuffing, as much as desired, and top with a small slice of extra bacon.
Bake at 425 degrees for 8–12 minutes or until hot and toasted. Serve with lemon and Tabasco.