Clamming: Stuffed Quahaugs

Nothing quite screams summer to me like throwing clamming rakes into the back of my dad's truck, along with a clamming basket and snorkels and going out to find dinner.  My parents live a leisurely life on Martha's Vineyard - their calendar is packed with cocktail parties, dinner parties, movie dates, guests, sailing and fishing.  When I visit, I am always impressed with the energy that my 60+ year old parents have.  Every time I'm on the vineyard we go fishing (and usually catch a Blue Fish) and we go clamming.  This year we tried our hand at crabbing too and baited some crab traps but only got green crabs (which are inedible).

Stuffed Quahaugs "with tasty additions"

We either go clamming when the tide is low and rake for clams or we go when the tide is high and put on our snorkel gear and daintily pluck the clams from the bottom of the ocean floor.   This year more than most years, I saw more scallops "chattering" on the ocean floor than I did clams, but alas, I will have to wait to October to plug those little gems up and eat them!

Once we filled our basket we prepared a delicious dinner.  We made two types of stuffed quahogs (the greener ones are with fresh herbs), grilled chorizo, freshly caught blue fish and steamed clams.  (Quahogs are the larger variety of clams - better known as chowder clams and perfect for stuffed quahogs.  Clams are dainty, sweeter and less rubbery and delicious gently steamed and dipped in butter).  The saltiness of the ocean came through beautifully in the freshest of summer dinners.

Victor's Stuffed Quahaug Recipe: 

Stuffed "original" Quahaugs 

Fresh quahaugs (60)
1/2 cup of the juices created by steaming the clams, careful to skim from the top to avoid sand
6-8 slices white bread
3/4 cup fresh Parmsean cheese
1 Tbspn Oregano 
1 Tbspn Basil
1 Tbspn Tyme
1 Tbspn  Parsley
1 Tbspn Frank's Red Hot
Juice of one lemon
2 Tbspn safflower oil
1 Tbspn black pepper

Optional tasty additions:
A few cloves pressed garlic 
1 cup creamed spinach
2 Tbspn Sherry
Fresh corn niblets

Steam open the clams (saving some liquid in the pot) then coarsely chop in food processor, set aside.
Shred bread in food processor, set aside 
Mix all other ingredients in a bowl including any "optional tasty additions" 

Fold clam mixture and bread into the bowl to make a thick paste.  

Select 12-16 clam shells from the pile of discards
With a spoon, pack each shell with the mixture.
Brush the top of the mixture with a light coating of oil

Heat an oiled cast iron skillet to medium heat,
Place each shell in the skillet mixture side down.
Brown for about 2-3 minutes or until a dark-golden crust forms from the parmesan.

Serve hot with lemon wedges. 

I just love Summer: Lobsta

Surprisingly I didn't have lobster all summer until this past weekend.  This is a first for me as I LOVE lobster.  The Vineyard time was filled with clamming and crabbing and fishing - no lobster, but in Old Lyme I finally had my traditional lobster feast.

These lobsters were caught during their molting season so they were soft shell lobsters, similar to the soft shell crab and were delicious.  The neatest part was that we didn't need lobster claws to crack the shells, because their shells were soft, we could just crush them with our hands.  The summer market near Old Lyme steams them (perfectly, I might add) for you, so all you have to do is melt the butter and sit down to the table.  I usually love butter with my lobster meat, however, these were so soft and succulent I dipped not a single piece in the butter sitting next to my lobster.

We went traditional all the way.  We shucked corn, slathered it with pesto and wrapped it in tin-foil and threw it on the grill.

We took out our mini Cuisinart and threw together a quick salad dressing: a clove of garlic (obviously), the juice of 1 lemon, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt and pepper, and a large handful of fresh herbs from the herb garden.  We then tossed is with a bunch of Mesclun lettuce and some pieces of goat cheese.

One thing I love about my friends is that they love vegetables as much as I do.  We can have a complete meal consisting of a grain and a ton of vegetables with a salad.   None of us are huge meat-eaters so light fishes and loads of vegetables make our dinner parties colorful and delicious.

Our meal was perfectly summer light paired with delicious crisp, white wine and lots of laughing.  I should add the two of the three dogs (the Terriers) were trying to hurl their bodies into the bucket of lobster shells throughout the meal.

I just love the summer: The breakfast sandwich

I love all seasons - but I particularly love the warmer seasons and being able to sit outside around a lovely table cooking and laughing with friends.  This past weekend I went to Old Lyme and stayed at a friends house with some girlfriends from college and 3 lovely dogs.

We ate delicious foods, drank delicious wines, walked adorable dogs and frolicked in the ocean.  It was a fantastic summer weekend with killer weather and barely any traffic.   The trip started out with Aquinnah and my first train ride together.  As soon as I stopped projecting nervous energy onto her, she relaxed and the ride was fine - it's good to know that Metro North allows dogs.

Anyway, the first morning we brainstormed breakfast and agreed upon egg sandwiches.  It is no secret that my favorite breakfast item is the egg sandwich, it's totally and completely satisfying to me (with a little side salad).  I switch it up with the ingredients (fresh herbs, onions, garlic, chorizo, shiitakes, avocado, tomatoes, etc...), bread type (baguette, pita, multi-grain, English Muffin, etc..) and method of cooking eggs (poached, friend or scrambled).

This particular morning, and because I have trouble controlling the heat of an electric stove, we made scrambled eggs (slowly cooked - for about 25 minutes) with garlic, onion and herbs.  I have to admit we did this two mornings in a row.

The first morning we added fresh mozarella to the cooking eggs, the second morning, because there were so many more people, we each picked out the cheese of choice and put it onto the warmed toast instead of in with the eggs (I went with brie).  It was fantastic.  Throw a few slices of fresh tomato on there and you have a satisfying meal.  Because we had a garden right next to the kitchen, we also made a homemade basil-walnut pesto that first morning we put on the eggs and the second night we rubbed on corn and roasted.

Scrambled egg sammies are great when you're cooking for a large group because they are simply delicious.  You can keep the toast in the oven so everything comes out warm.

1 serving:
3 eggs, gently beaten with a splash of milk or cream
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 yellow onion, minced
1 bit of cheese of your choice

Heat a little bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a pan on medium heat.  Sweat the onion (add a pinch of salt) and leave until the onion becomes soft.  Add the garlic and let cook for a minute or two.  Add the eggs and let cook, slowly, periodically scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  When it looks like the eggs are forming into scramble instead of just liquid, add your cheese and herbs in.

Toast your bread, slice your tomato and avocado if you so choose, put it all together and enjoy a quick and delicious breakfast sandwich.

Ice Cream Truck Ice Cream

This is my dog Aquinnah.  She is a lover of fetching, hunting pieces of pizza crusts and bagels off the street.  She loves the ocean, running in the sand, chewing on bones and hanging out (as shown in bed above).  Above all other things she loves the ice cream truck man.  I made the mistake of accepting a "doggie cone" from Mr. Softie in the beginning of the summer... all this means is they give me a free adult size vanilla ice cream cone for Aquinnah.

Normally, I am neurotically careful about the food that I give her (the things she finds on the street is another story).  But I thought it was so cute that she would daintily take bites and lick the ice cream cone that I caved into those hazel brown eyes and started giving her cones.

Well, I've created a monster.  Aquinnah is smart enough that she has has circuit in the neighborhood  of restaurants and stores that gives her treats: Petopia, High Vibe, Bikes by George and Il Bagatto.  She sits in front of the doors of these establishments and won't budge until she's given a treat.  Literally, won't move, and if I try and pull her, she lays down on her stomach and defiantly stares at me until someone takes pity on her and gives her a handful of cookies.  This works for me, because I know what streets to avoid if I'm in a hurry and walking her.  The ice cream truck is another story.  Aquinnah stops for ANY truck that is similarly shaped (UPS, FedEx, Post Office) and stares at the trucks in her best "I'm well-behaved pose" and waits as I attempt to drag her away and rationalize with her that the post man doesn't hide ice cream in his truck.  Worse than stopping for all similarly shaped trucks is what happens when we hear the ice cream truck music from blocks away.

Her reaction is as I would imagine would happen if all at once 400 tennis balls got shot into a park and she didn't know which way to run first.  Upon hearing the music, she stops. Her whole body begins quivering and she starts jolting in every direction.  People walking down the street look at me like I have a schizophrenic dog who is totally and completely unruly.  Usually she is able to hunt down the truck, plow women and children out of the way and sit "patiently" under the window, drool hanging out of her mouth barely holding herself back from hurling her little blonde body 4 feet into the air in an attempt to physically get into the truck.  Luckily, there are two ice cream people in our neighborhood both of whom love her and give her 1-3 cones depending on how pathetic she acts.

As her ice cream crack habit has developed, she no longer daintily licks and takes bites of the cones as she once did.  She sucks the ice cream out in one bite and frantically eats the cone.  I don't know what they put in their ice cream, I would imagine it's more than cream, sugar, and vanilla... maybe there is some dog crack in there too.  But summer walks in the city have become a mine-field of avoiding the inevitable ice cream truck.  And the lowest I have come is having to physically pick her up (all 55 lbs.) and remove her from the trucks after her allotted and VERY generous 3 cone max is up.

What to make when you have nothing in the fridge!

Well, that was my dilemma this lovely rainy afternoon. Aquinnah and I got drenched in a rain storm at the dog park... which after I succumbed to being totally wrecked by the rain was really lovely.  The last time I enjoyed being caught in the rain that thoroughly was in college when I got caught on the way out of a summer class with my friend, drove back to his house and cozied up on a covered porch, in a hammock listening to the rain pounding on the roof.  We watched our friends, one by one, come home, clothing plastered to their bodies, big grins on their faces.   Sometimes, there is nothing quite like a refreshing summer storm.

So, I knew I was going to be hungry for lunch and want something warm.  All we had was 3/4 a container of mushroom stock, a few shiitake mushrooms, 1/2 a white onion, and two cloves of garlic.  I made risotto.  I finely chopped the onion and garlic, threw a slab of butter and a pinch of sea salt, a dash of dill, and a sprinkling of red pepper in a 1-quart pan, sweat it out until the onion was soft and then tossed in 1 cup of arborio rice and let the flavors marry.

Next, I slowly added (and you want to move as slowly as a herd of turtles) 3 cups of mushroom stock all the while stirring the rice.  If you're worried about getting bored, plug your headset into your phone and chat away.  I stirred until the rice became plump and the liquid was all gone.  Then, because I love it so, I drizzled a bit of Truffle Oil on top.

A really easy and delicious lunch.  Ideally I would have plopped it on a bed of greens, but until I make it over to the farmer's market today, the greens are a no go.

Who DOESN'T love Kale?

Kale is one of those super delicious bitter leafy greens that is great no matter how you prepare it... one of my favorite ways is in the form of kale "chips." The healthiest way to make kale chips is in a food dehydrator (I recommend the Excalibur Dehydrator because the nutrients are not lost baking.  That said, not everyone has the counter space for a dehydrator so the next best thing (in my mind) is slow roasted kale.

Set your oven on 200 degrees. To prepare the kale, you rinse it thoroughly (nasty dirt and grit gets stuck in the crevices of this lovely green) in a salad spinner making sure to dry it completely.  Once it's dry, toss it in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil (cold pressed), sea salt, cracked black pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Place the kale in one layer on a baking sheet and slowly roast it until it's crunchy (about 49-50 minutes)

This makes a fantastic and satisfying snack for kids and adults alike - and it's super healthy to boot!

The Table: Floral Arrangement

As I'm sure Martha Stewart can attest, almost as important as the food itself, is the table and presentation of your table.  Whether it be indoors or out, flowers always add a nice degree of calm and beauty to a dinner table.  My friend Miriam and I were preparing flowers arrangements for a large dinner party and were brainstorming a budget-friendly way to make beautiful displays.

We decided on Mason jars with twine wrapped half-way around and beautiful flowers stuffed into the jars.  A very clean, rustic looking arrangement.  All you need are sheers, gloves (to protect your hands from the thorns-modeled on Miriam), mason jars (which you can order online at Amazon for very little $$), super glue and flowers!

The key, we found, after a cucumber vodka with seltzer, is not to worry about the flowers or the mason jars looking perfect - because they will not.  It's just to have a pretty centerpiece that brings together the colors or feelings of the meal.

The total cost was far less than a florist would charge and the arrangements received compliments from the guest and birthday boy!  Score. We paired large and medium mason jars on every table with jumbo jars with more elaborate arrangements at the head table and tiny jars with simple arrangements in the bathrooms and powder rooms.  A little thinking outside the box gets you some creative outcomes.