Saturday, October 9, 2010

steamed clams

These broth for these clams uses the reserved liquid left over from roasting the tomatoes in the Roasted Tomato Soup with Garlic and Herbs recipe. The broth could also be made without this reserved liquid, simply by adding a bit more white wine.

This recipe is absolutely delicious, and it's incredibly fast and easy. It's a great "impress your guests" meal, but it's also simple enough to make for a weeknight dinner.

You don't need to spend a lot of money on the wine for the broth, but do get something that you wouldn't mind drinking, for a couple of reasons: 1) you will have at least 2/3 a bottle left, and white wine is lovely with clams, and 2) the wine will reduce slightly in the broth and it's flavors will concentrate, so if you use cheap "cooking wine," then that's what your broth will taste like.

Steamed Clams in Tomato, Herb, White Wine Broth

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer.

2 dozen littleneck or other medium sized clams

1/2 stick of unsalted butter

2 shallots, minced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

reserved liquid from roasted tomatoes

about 1/4 bottle dry white wine, such as Muscadet, Sancerre, or a dry Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc

salt and pepper

Rinse the clams in cool water. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the minced shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until just translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the white wine, bring to a simmer, and then add the tomato broth. Bring to a low boil, carefully add the clams to the broth, and cover.

Cook covered for 7-10 minutes, or until the clams open. Discard any clams that remain unopened after 10 minutes.

Plate the clams in large bowls in their cooking broth. Serve with plenty of toasted crusty bread to sop up the broth, and a side of roasted fingerling potatoes tossed with chopped parsley and basil.

bye bye tomatoes

Farewell tomatoes, we'll see you next summer. You have been plentiful and delicious.



Here are my last two fresh tomato recipes of the season. The first is a roasted tomato soup/pasta sauce recipe. The second is a poaching liquid or broth that is made from the reserved tomato juice leftover after roasting. I used this broth to steam clams that were honestly one of my favorite things I've ever made, but I imagine it would also be great for poaching a meaty white fish like halibut.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Garlic and Herbs

I set out to make a pasta sauce, but the result was so tasty that I ended up serving most of it as a tomato soup. If you want to use this as pasta sauce, simply add a small amount of the boiled pasta water to the sauce. The starch in the water will make the sauce a little thicker and less soupy.

Many traditional tomato soup/sauce recipes will direct you to boil the tomatoes, them shock them in cold water in order to remove their skins. I have skipped this step entirely, simply roasting the whole tomatoes, then pureeing them, skins and all. I find that this doesn't negatively affect the flavor or consistency of the soup, and saves a lot of time.

Nutrition note: If using this for pasta sauce, the pasta I buy is Tinkyada brand brown rice pasta (available at Whole Foods and many natural foods groceries). I think it's the best whole grain pasta option available right now. The texture and flavor are much more similar to traditional pasta than the whole wheat varieties, it's much higher in fiber, and it's gluten free.



Ingredients

approximately 3 pounds fresh tomatoes (mixed variety is fine--I used plums, cherries, and black brandywines from the garden)

2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (I used rosemary, oregano, and thyme)

4-5 whole garlic cloves

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or more or less to taste

scant 1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

about 15 leaves of fresh basil

sugar


Preheat oven to 425. Quarter or half larger tomatoes so that they are all roughly the same size. If you are using smaller cherry or grape tomatoes, these can be left whole.



Place tomatoes is a large roasting pan. Add garlic, herbs, pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat tomatoes in oil and distribute seasonings.

Roast in oven 20-30 minutes, until the tomatoes have expelled much of their water, and their skins are pruney and puckery.

Remove tomatoes from oven. Transfer roasted tomatoes, herbs, and garlic to a large heatproof bowl, leaving the thin liquid in the roasting pan (this will be used in the second recipe). Add 10 leaves of basil, and puree with an imersion blender.

Taste the puree for seasoning. It will probably need a bit more salt and pepper. You may want to add more basil to play up the herby flavor. If it seems too acidic add a drizzle of olive oil, or it might benefit from a bit of sugar. Season with sugar conservatively as you would season with salt: it's easy to add too much.

Serve this as a soup with crusty bread, or even better, grilled cheese sandwiches with smoked cheddar.

Serve as a pasta sauce tossed with your favorite shaped noodles, a generous grating of parmesan, and more fresh basil.



Transfer the reserved liquid from the roasting pan to a lidded container and store in the fridge until ready to use. It should keep for about 4 days.

Clams in White Wine, Tomato Herb Broth recipe will be up within the next couple days! Enjoy!