Clams with New Potatoes and Spring Onions.

We had another spectacular weather day here in my hometown so I decided to keep it simple once again with some steamed clams in a rich white wine broth perfect for dipping some of my homemade bread in to.

I wanted to try this delicious recipe from Epicurious so I went out to our less than local seafood market (where the prices are great and the people are lively) and purchased 3 lbs. of Manila clams. I followed the recipe to the letter and while the bf and I sat around shelling clams like sea otters we had discussion about what I would do differently next time around.

The ingredients. Potatoes, green onions, garlic and smoked chorizo (tough to find).

3 lbs. of Manila clams.

You render the chorizo in 4 Tlb. of olive oil until it starts to get crispy. This is something I would change the chorizo to possibly a nice smoked pancetta, or even a nice smoked bacon. The recipe calls for you leaving the chorizo in the pan while you cook the potatoes I think I would remove it and set it to the side and add back in later in the cooking.

Addition of the potatoes, white part of the green onions and garlic. I would watch your cooking time and adjust accordingly. You don't want mushy potatoes in the pot. Here is where I would add some seasoning if you want it spicy or smokey (cayenne and or some smoked paprika would be nice). The suggested cooking time was 10-12 minutes I reduced that to 8-10 minutes. Stir often so your potatoes don't stick. Add some salt and pepper.

Deglaze with white wine. Cook the wine til reduced by half then add water and cook until the potatoes are a little cooked but not done by any means. Remember they still have to cook another 8-10 min when you add the clams and lid it to steam. This is where I would add the chorizo back into the pot along with the rest of the green onions.

The finished product.

It was really good, but I did think the chorizo was overcooked and if I hadn't reduced cooking time the potatoes would have been mush in the bottom of the pot.

In the end there were no leftovers. All in all another great dinner. I did include the link to the full Epicurious recipe.