Date of Visit: August 25, 2018
Most of the smoke from the day before was gone so we decided to stay rather than head home. Good thing! Our hostess had a great treat on the menu for us – a Main Clam Boil. There would be nine people altogether: our hosts, friends they’ve been with for 30 or so years, us, and some folks who used to live in our hood but have since moved to Washingon,
Clams are easy to come by at the cottage on the canal. Simply walk out into the mud flats during low tide and dig up what you need.
The ingredients are simple but delicious
New Potatoes are at the bottom
Shallots and aromatics go in first
Sausages and hot dogs
Clams, of course
and corn on the cob
The clam boil itself requires a LARGE pot with a large burner to get the water boiling. I don’t know how many gallons this pot holds, but it is big. I can’t imagine doing this on the stove top – at least for the size of crowd we had. Many years ago when we were traveling in the South of France we had a local vendor come out to the house to cook us a huge plate of paella – the burner was similar to the one we used.
John was the head cook.
First the potatoes, shallots, and aromatics are placed in a basket and go in the simmering water for 5 to 10 minutes.
Then everything else goes in: sausages and clams,
with the corn on top.
The corn is just about done
When the corn is done and the clams have opened it’s time to pull everything. The corn goes in its own serving bowl; everything else is in the basket.
John had a steady hand
Our hosts have a great island in the kitchen with a stainless steel top so the hot stuff can lay on it easily. The basket has some feet on it to keep it up a bit. The plates were prepared – plenty of melted butter is a must of course.
And dinner was served
What a delicious dinner! We stayed at the table and chatted for hours.
Good times with good friends; it’s always a treat for us when we are invited up.
