Clams in Butter & Wine Sauce

After having something similar in an area restaurant I wanted to try my hand at a butter/wine sauce for clams. It came out great and the sauce is delicious with crusty bread. Here's what you need:

• 1 stick of Butter
• 1 cup of white wine
• 1 cup clam stock
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of cream
• 3 tablespoons chopped Parsley
• 1 small Lemon
• Zest from the lemon
• 1/2 an medium onion
• 1/2 lb Bacon, cooked soft, roughly chopped
• 3-5 lbs of Little Neck Clams

Pepper to taste (the clam liquor will be salty enough)

To get the cup of clam liquor you need for this, you'll get from the clams you cook. It's easy:

1. Fill a stock pot with about half an inch of wine and then place the steamer and clams in. Turn to high and cover, steam for 15 minutes. You'll know they're done when they open. Discard any clams still closed after steaming.
2. You should have a couple of cups of clam stock in the bottom of the pot. Don't throw it out! Freeze what you don't use in the recipe for later.

To make the sauce:

1. Heat a large sauce pan to medium-high, place butter in pan.
2. Add garlic and onion and saute till translucent, about 4 minutes.
3. Add chicken stock, wine and clam stock. Switch heat to High until boiling, then reduce to medium. Simmer and reduce for approximately 20 minutes or until reduced to close half volume. (At this point you can serve it at whatever consistency you like, add a tiny bit of flour if you want it thicker.)
4. After reducing liquid add heavy cream, lemon zest and lemon juice. Simmer for 15 minutes, stir regularly.
5. Add parsley, stir and remove from heat.
6. Place clams in large bowl and sprinkle the bacon on top. Then pour the sauce all over the clams.
7. Serve and eat with bread!

Tip: To cut back on salt, use a bacon or ham that isn't as salty.

Post-Thanksgiving Blues

The day after Thanksgiving I meant to put together a big post about what I cooked for the holiday write a little about family but I didn't. Our son Chayce was home for the weekend and it was nice to spend time with him and kind of relax a bit. Before you know it the weekend is gone and Shelby and I are in the house alone again.

I was cooking when Chayce arrived at the airport on Thanksgiving Day. Shelby and Marleigh picked him up. It was great to see him walking up to the house and our dog Jasper didn't know what to do with himself. So he ended up running around in circles creating a wide circuit between the mailbox and Chayce. He eventually rolled over onto his back and piddled in the air.

Typical Jasper.

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Shelby and Chayce. Marleigh is taking the photo.

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Jasper aka Mr. Bighead, Mr. Weirdo, Mr. Poop, etc...

I've been working my turkey game and the past couple of years the turkey has been roasted upside-down. This been done by plenty of people for as long as turkeys have been roasted I'm assuming but it's new to me. After talking to someone last year I decided to try it and I think it turned out great. The breast meat is constantly basted in the juices and the skin on the bottom of the turkey is brown and crispy. Everyone knows crispy turkey skin is the best! The last hour of roasting was breast side up to brown it and then about 20 minutes resting. The brine could be tasted in the turkey and complimented the bird. I was pretty happy with how it turned out and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

We told the kids not to get tattoos. As you can see, they didn't listen.

The turkey right out of its brine bath.

I made our favorite mashed potatoes: heavy cream, garlic, Parmesan and a stick of butter. A little parsley is good too but I forgot to put it in while I was running around the kitchen. I was actually only an hour behind serving which is pretty good for me. We had 7 dishes or so, not including the pies Shelby made the night before, some easier than others to put together. The gravy is usually last to be made. I use the the braised vegetables from the turkey pan to make the gravy in addition to the giblets and neck stock.

Love it when Shelby makes me my birthday cake.

After we all ate dinner we celebrated my birthday--it was the next day but it's easier to do it while we have everyone in one place. Shelby made my favorite: yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Every since I was a kid this has been my favorite cake to eat. I think it was because we didn't get stuff like that often and seeing the typical yellow cake and chocolate frosting on the packaging looked really tasty. Luckily, anything buttery is good in my book; I love it every time.

We were able to do a little bit while Chayce was home but before you know it he's back on the plane and out of here. We'll be able to visit some more over Christmas and there is always something going on here, but it's nice when we have the kids home again.

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