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On the
Half Shell
By Chef David “Smitty” Smith
Clams
Casino
Place some butter on each clam.
Top with the bacon and a few drops of white wine. Place under a
broiler until the butter is melted and the bacon is cooked.
Oyster
Rockefellers
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12 shucked oysters
-
1/2 C celery
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1/4 C scallions
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1/4 C parsley
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1/4 C watercress
-
1/4 C shallots
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1/4 C spinach
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2 sticks of butter
-
2 oz pernoid
-
2 cloves garlic minced
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Few drops Tabasco
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Salt and pepper
Sauté all the ingredients from the
celery to the spinach in the butter. Season with the pernoid,
garlic, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until warm
and top with hollandaise sauce.
One of the reasons I look forward
to summer so much is the seafood. I know you can get seafood all
year, but for me the summer is seafood season. While back on
Nantucket, I would be getting the freshest seafood you could
hope for every couple of days. Out here, with a passion for
fishing, I have plenty of opportunity to have fresh trout or
bass on a regular schedule. The good thing about fish and
seafood is the shear variety of choices and the equal number of
ways of preparing them.
Clams and oysters are two items
that fit into the multi use category. Often found in entrées
such as linguini with clam sauce or bouillabaisse, they also are
front-runners on the appetizer menu. Probably the most common
preparation is to pop the shell open by cutting the connective
muscle and serving them on half of the shell with a squeeze of
lemon and a little cocktail sauce. If you happen to be at a bar,
you can add a little vodka and call it a clam or oyster shooter.
For those not interested in eating a raw clam or oyster there
are other alternatives that involve cooking them. Two of my
favorites are Clams Casino and Oyster Rockefellers.
They are simple to make and are a
great hit at any party. Both are shucked as if you are going to
serve them on the half shell. Be sure that all the shells are
closed before opening. If any shells are even partly open and do
not close tight when you wash them then throw them away. When in
doubt, throw it out. Once the shells are open and the meat is
carefully separated from the remaining half of the shell, all
you do is put on your toppings and either bake or broil.
Clams casino is especially easy to
prepare. Some chefs will simply pour a few drops of white wine
onto the clam, place a piece of bacon on it and broil it until
the bacon is cooked. I like to add a small amount of snail
butter or some other garlic and herb butter before putting on
the bacon.
Oyster Rockefellers are a bit more
work but a food processor will get all the tough stuff done for
you. All you have to do is put all the ingredients in a food
processor until well chopped and mixed, and then sauté the mix
in butter. Season the mixture with pernoid, garlic, Tabasco,
salt and pepper to taste, place some of the mix on each of the
oysters and bake for a few minutes to heat up. Add a small spoon
of hollandaise sauce and you are ready to go. If you want to get
fancy you can try putting the sauced oyster under the broiler
for a minute to brown the hollandaise. One thing many chefs will
do is fold in a little white sauce into the hollandaise before
browning, which will make it a little less likely to separate
the sauce when cooking.
No matter how you decide to
prepare your shellfish, whether it is with butter or not or
browned hollandaise sauce, you know they are not going to be on
the table long.
Smitty is a personal
chef specializing in dinner parties, cooking classes and special
events. Trained under Master Chef Anton Flory at Top Notch
Resort in Stowe, Vt., Smitty is known for his creative use of
fresh ingredients. He has been a chef for PGA’s “Memorial
Tournament” for more than 15 years and ran the main kitchen at
the World Games. For more information and archived copies of
Stir it Up, visit
www.chefsmitty.com. Smitty welcomes your questions and
comments at
smitty@chefsmitty.com or (530) 412-3598.
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