Steamed Clams with Chorizo and Potatoes

It is really nice outside! Sunny and breezy. Blossoms and light green buds are all over the trees. The warm weather just reminds me of summery food... and today I cooked Portuguese-style clam dish.

Steamed and flavored with chorizo, garlic and white wine, and served with potatoes and toast. The salty, smoky and peppery chorizo, yummy clams, and, last but not least, browned potatoes soaked in flavorful liquid. Delicious!

Please enjoy your warm weather with this simple steamed clam dish like you are in Portugal.

Wine Pairing Idea:
2010 Domaine Paul Blanck Pinot Gris

This slightly off-dry wine in light yellow has beautiful and mild peach, melon, dried pear and lemon curd notes, and the signature nutty notes of Pinot Gris comes as macadamia nut fragrance. As all Alsace wines do, it has very well-balanced minerality, acidity and mild herbal notes --- in this specific wine, you will find some tarragon. The wine also has surprisingly smooth finish with an apple butter flavor.

This subtle and smooth fruity and nutty notes and minerality and acidity make Paul Blanck Pinot Gris a perfect pair with steamed seafood which doesn't have as strong flavor as grilled or sautéed ones, but has briny and more ocean-like flavor. Especially, the off-dry character of this wine will create a fine balance with the rich flavor of chorizo.

Steamed Clams with Chorizo and Potatoes
(Yield: 3-4 servings / Cooking time: 1.5 hours)

Ingredients:

+ 25-30 little neck clams* + 350g potatoes (small potatoes)** + 70g Spanish style chorizo*** + 4 garlic cloves + 1 small shallot + a few sprigs of thyme + 1/4 cup dry white wine

+ 170g cherry tomatoes** + 1 cup white chicken stock (low sodium chicken stock is fine, but homemade non-salted one is preferred) + a few sprigs of parsley + lemon + some slices of bread for toast + olive oil, vegetable oil + salt and pepper

* To avoid having sand in your dish, you need to disgorge and clean clams. Cover clams with very salty water (almost like sea water) in a bowl. Some say add cornmeal or cracked black pepper. Please add those if you want. Then cover the bowl with aluminum foil and place it in a fridge for at least four hours or overnight. When the clams spit out all the sands, scrub the shell to remove any sand outside of the shells.

** If not available, please use regular potatoes and tomatoes. You don't have to use small potatoes and cherry tomatoes. Just cut them in bite-size.

*** Spanish style chorizo is flavored with pimentón and is fermented. Usually found in dry-form.


Procedures:
1. Clean potatoes and cherry tomatoes, and cut them in bite size. Peel and slice garlic cloves and shallot. Finally, peel off casing and cut chorizo into thin bite size pieces.


2. Drizzle vegetable oil in a pan, and when the pan is heated, spread slices of potatoes in one layer. Cook the potatoes until they are golden brown. You don't need to cook them all the way through, since we are going to cook them further later with clams. I cook potatoes in two batches. When potatoes are browned, cool them over wired rack and season with pepper, and very lightly with salt.


3. Using the same pan, place chorizo over low heat to render the fat. When chorizo fat is rendered enough, add slices of garlic and shallot and sweat them together. Pour 1/4 cup of white wine and thyme sprigs. Reduce the wine almost to dry.


4. Adjust the heat to medium. Add cleaned clams and tomatoes in the pan. Pour chicken stock and cover the pan to steam the clams until clams are open, for about 5-6 minutes. Then, add potatoes from #2 to the pan, cook until the potatoes are cooked or have absorbed the flavorful liquid. Taste the liquid and if it needs seasoning, season with salt and pepper. Probably, you will not need any salt, since chorizo and clams are already salty enough.


5. Slice several slices of bread, and drizzle olive oil and toast or grill them to crisp to serve with the clams.

6. Squeeze lemon juice, and sprinkle chopped parsley over steamed clams right before serving.

Enjoy~