Nha means House

I really really love Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home book.  It is so user friendly and the instruction are clear and concise and all the dishes are really easy to throw together for the household use.  I have never cooked so many dishes from one book before. I usually am going through different books, blogs and old recipes and going from one resource to another to find the right recipe to use.  I have to admit I am really enjoying this experience about cooking from one book, especially from a man like Thomas Keller.  He is just so talented and offers tons of great tips in the book.

Okay back to the New England Style Clambake. I love this recipe, simple and really show off all the different seafood and his tips about using eggs to see if your clambake is ready was spot on.

Here’s the recipe, plus you will need clean rocks to cover the bottom of a 20 quart pot and one pound of seaweed, rinsed well in hot water.  I had a really hard time find some fresh seaweed/kelp/wakame in the East Side and I had to call a few places to find it, so do your research before you make this dish.  I finally found it at Uwajimaya in Bellevue and had to call twice because they were not sure if they were going to get it in that day, but do not let it deter you – it’s worth the effort.  Plus you will about 2 yards of cheese cloths.

Here are my rocks and seaweed in a huge pot:

• Kosher salt
• 2 pounds clam, preferably steamers or Manila
• 18 extra-large (16-20 count) shrimp
• 2 pounds mussels, preferably Bouchot, (I couldn’t find any in my area)
• ***Do a ratio of 10:1 water salt ratio for the salt brine (8 cups of water to 1 3/4 cups salt)
• clams soak for 5 minutes, then rinse under cold water
• mussels soak for 5 minutes, rinsed under cold water and removes it beard
• shrimp soak for 10 minutes, slit down the back of each shrimp and remove the intestinal tract
• 1 1/2 pounds Red Bliss or other red potatoes (I used Yukon because I had some on hand)
• Canola Oil
• Fleur de sel
• 8 oz andouille sausage, cut into 3 inch long pieces
• 6 ears corn, shucked and cut in half
• Three lobsters
• 2 large eggs
• Melted butter
• Malt vinegar
• Lemon wedges
• Old Bay Seasoning

With the rocks and half the seaweed in the pot (save the other pot to line your big platter to serve the clambake), add water to come to just below the top of the seaweed.  Basically the ingredients will be steamed and will not come in contact with the water.  Set the pot over high heat and bring to a boil.

Toss the potatoes with the canola oil and generously toss with the fleur de sel. Cut an 18 inches square cheesecloth and placed the potatoes in the center and tied it up.

Wrap the clams and mussels in one cheesecloth.  Wrap the shrimp in another square and the sausages in another square.

Time to cook everything.  First place the potatoes in the center and cook for 12 minutes, then add the corn, sausage and then tuck in the shellfish bundles and add the lobster. Lastly tuck in the two eggs.  Cover and cook 15 minutes.  Remove one of the eggs and crack it open. If the eggs are hard-cooked, then the clambake is ready to be taken out and enjoy. If not, cook for another three minute and check the second egg.

Here’s the clambake ready to be devour!

Verdict:  Everyone thought the clambake was well cooked, not over done, the shellfish, especially the shrimp were juicy and plump.  The corn was another hit but the potatoes were really good, though the husband said it need some butter (which I had some on the table), otherwise it was fluffy and creamy at the same time.

I also made a dipping sauce that I nabbed from Kappo when we went there last year.  It was just butter, soy sauce and sake.  They heated the sauce until the butter had melted and emulsified with the soy and sake. This dipping sauce was just amazing with the shrimp and lobster – luxurious and rich and silky at the same time.

Here’s some fun photos of my friend and I holding the waving lobster before we put it in the pot, a good shot and then a shot right after one of the lobster try to EAT us! (That’s the reason why the photo is out of focus.)  We had fun that night.

 

Check out one of the claws from the lobster.  It was huge and delicious!

and a final picture of the clambake again. This is a great meal to have for a special occasion and to share with your friends.  I want to wish Quyen a very very Happy Birthday and hoped you enjoyed the dinner and your new quilt!

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 1:11 am and is filed under Food & Drink, Thomas Keller. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.