Clams Casino Recipe

Clams Casino Recipe Divya Gugnani: Hi! I’m Divya Gugnani. In search of some fresh seafood, I’m here at Summer Shack in Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Inspired by a traditional Clam Shack, they’ve got everything from under the sea. So, let’s go behind the burner and meet the chef. I’m here with chef-owner Jasper White. Jasper, I see clams, what are you making for me? Jasper White: We are going to make our famous Clams Casino and we do them a little differently here. We do grilled clams. So, before we do the grilled clams, we’re going to make the sauce using some slab bacon which is traditionally in Casino. A good trick with the bacon is to cut a really small dice because you still have it partially frozen; it makes it really easy to cut. Divya Gugnani: Oh that’s great for cutting any sort of meat. Jasper White: It is. It really makes it quickly. Garlic, onions, bell peppers, white wine and we’re making a butter sauce. Sweet butter, salt and pepper and fresh chives and that’s all there is to it. Divya Gugnani: You’re clearly not sparing us with the butter? Jasper White: No, I’m not going to spare it and the thing with the butter, for making a butter sauce is to keep it really cold. Divya Gugnani: To keep it cold, perfect. Jasper White: It will make the emulsion easier. It keeps it from breaking. Divya Gugnani: We know it’s going to be nice and creamy, so let’s get started. Jasper White: I started with a hot frying pan, add the diced bacon, rendered it until it was nice and crisp. I took the bacon out, set it aside. We poured off the bacon fat to save that to make something else with some other time. Then add garlic, peppers and onions and sauté them in a little bit of butter until they’re translucent. And then I added white wine and we cook it down, reduce the white wine and that’s where we are right now. Next, I’m going to whip the butter into this, so you can give me that butter. Divya Gugnani: So, you need a whisk? Jasper White: Yes, I do. Divya Gugnani: So, I’ll give it, here. And some butter. Jasper White: Put a little bit at a time. Divya Gugnani: A little bit at a time, so I’ll just throw that in there. Jasper White: And see? I’m keeping it on a pretty low heat and just stirring that butter in so that it emulsifies. Divya Gugnani: And so, the butter is great for creaminess and the shine of the sauce. Jasper White: Right and it looks really rich bacon and butter and all but we only put about a half a teaspoon on each clam, so it’s not as -- Divya Gugnani: It’s not as figure on friendly as you think it is. Jasper White: Salt and pepper. Divya Gugnani: And so, you go with the black pepper here. You don’t need the white? Jasper White: I’m not fuzzy. I don’t like white pepper as much as black. Black has a better flavor. Divya Gugnani: It does have a better flavor. Jasper White: If you taste it now -- Divya Gugnani: We’re not going frenzy French today you know. Jasper White: No, we’re not. Now, I’m going to add the bacon back in there and some fresh chives. Divya Gugnani: Yes. We got chives. Jasper White: We’ll have plenty of them, beautiful. Divya Gugnani: Not sparing the chives. Jasper White: And now, we have this nice bacony, garlicky, buttery chive sauce. Divya Gugnani: And look at those colors! You’ve got that beautiful bright green and you’ve got the color of the bacon and green pepper. Jasper White: And now, we’re going to grill the clams. In this, you could just keep in a warm spot until you’re ready to use it. Divya Gugnani: So Jasper, how do you pick your clams? Jasper White: Well today, we’re using littlenecks and for any kind, whether it’s littleneck, cherrystone, quahog, when they first come out of the water, they have kind of a steely gray color. Divya Gugnani: Right. Jasper White: And then they oxidize. Three or four days, they start to get chalky white. And so, if you see a real chalky-looking white clam, it’s probably older than one that looks nice in steely gray. Divya Gugnani: So, you want to go for that gray color? That’s a good tip. Jasper White: And if you choose a gray color, it’s a great way to tell. So, we’re going to put these clams right on the grill and if you don’t have one of these fancy grays, you could call the Great Grates. A school teacher in Westford Massachusetts invented this thing. He makes all different sizes and when I saw it, I helped him out with the design a little. I had him put a little slot in here so that you could -- Divya Gugnani: Which is good so you can pick it up with your tongs. Jasper White: So, you can pick it up with your tongs. So, that’s one of my additions to it. Divya Gugnani: Look at that! Jasper White: If you don’t want to do that and you don’t have one, you can just put the clams directly on the grill and here’s how simple it is. You put them on the grill, it could be gas. We used wood here and when they open, they're done. Okay, so the clams popped open. Now, we just take a little bit of sauce on each clam and what happens is the garlicky buttery sauce with a little bits bacon, chive -- Divya Gugnani: Gets right in there. Jasper White: It mixes with the clam juice, the natural juices from the clam. Divya Gugnani: And the clam is saying hello. Look at them! They open wide. One for me. Jasper White: It’s good to slurp these. You get all the juice and the butter sauce together. Divya Gugnani: Delicious! We’re going to slurp. Jasper White: And that’s exactly what they’re supposed to taste like. Divya Gugnani: I love the bacon flavor with it. Jasper White: And you know how the clams are not chewy -- Divya Gugnani: They’re not. Jasper White: Because the second they popped open, they were ready. Divya Gugnani: It’s great! Thanks so much for having us! Jasper White: You’re welcome. Divya Gugnani: Stay tuned to Behind the Burner where we give you the tips, tricks and techniques that are lighting the culinary world on fire. For the recipe, Q&A, photos and more visit BehindtheBurner.com.