New England Portuguese Clam Boil

"This is one of my childhood favorites. I grew up in southern Massachusetts where there is a huge portuguese population. We would go to the coast and collect any muscles, clams or periwinkles we could find and then toss them in a pot once we got home. These days a trip to the supermarket works okay. Feel free to add whatever seafood you'd like. Ingredient amounts are estimations since we really just threw whatever we had into a large pot. Make sure the clams and mussels are fresh and discard any that don't look so great."
 
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Ready In:
55mins
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
6
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ingredients

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directions

  • De-beard and de-sand the mussels and clams. You may also be able to buy them already cleaned. Cut the chorizo into 6 large pieces (approximately 4 inch lengths).
  • In a large pot add the potatoes first, then the onion and chorizo.
  • Add the 2 bottles of beer and then enough water to cover the chorizo. Add a generous bit of salt and pepper and then a pinch of pepper flakes if you want some extra heat. Cover and bring the pot to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are almost tender.
  • Add the clams and muscles and continue to boil for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the clams and muscles have popped open.
  • Serve with a small bowl of melted butter and lemon juice and another small bowl of the broth for dipping. Eat by pulling the seafood out of the shell, then dip into the broth to rinse any extra sand and then into the butter. Yum!

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Reviews

  1. The Portuguese Clam Boil is incomplete without hot dogs, sausage, corn on the cob and WHOLE onions. If anything, I skip the potatoes.
     
  2. Traditionally, we have always added hot dogs, pork breakfast sausage & corn on the cob as well.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I live in a beautiful seaside town in Massachusetts with my husband, 2 daughters and 2 cats. When not experimenting in the kitchen, I'm writing steampunk romance (Not sure what that is? Check out my website!). Recently agented, I hope to see my books in print soon. Can't wait! <img src="http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/454328/zaar%20photo.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"> Amelia (2 y.o. here) enjoying a cider donut after apple picking. <img src="http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/454328/zaar%202.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"> Maeve (4 y. o. here) I love cooking and can't resist trying to figure out what ingredients went into a good meal. I'm not really one for measuring, and usually just make things up as I go along. My brain tends to shut down at the sight of too many ingredients in a recipe (must be A.D.D. or something) so that's something I'm trying to work on. Most of my recipes are quick and easy to make, since I'm usually trying to get dinner out in a hurry. My family is Greek and my husband is Irish, but also lived in Spain for several years, so my cooking tends to reflect those cultures, but in general we're fairly adventurous. Feel free to zmail me! Please click below to help feed animals at local shelters. It's free! It also links to other great sites where you can help with just a click. Update: Just got a new camera, so hopefully my pictures will improve drastically. I had been using the camera on my cell. Needless to say the pics weren't great. I'll try retaking any that I've already posted. http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites.woa
 
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