Who doesn’t love to soak up the freshness of seafood season with using some freshly caught clams? For this dish, I use a saison ale brewed by Trillium, an amazing brewery located just around the corner from Row 34 in Boston. Saison is a great flavor match with clams, but lager and pilsner work well, too. Place this seafood dish in the center of the table and let anyone serve themselves. Note: If you have a stubborn clam that only opens slightly after cooking, carefully try to pry it open using a clam or butter knife. Be sure to get the most seafood cooking out of this summer time when you can get seafood easy and fresh!
recipe 
yields
Serves 4 as an appetizer
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 whole scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
40 littleneck clams, cleaned
1 cup saison, preferably Trillium Brewery’s Saison Du Row
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons Parsley Butter (see below)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 slices grilled or toasted sourdough bread
4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups tightly packed flat-leaf parsley
For the Clams
For the Parsley Butter
steps
- Prepare the Parsley Butter: Place all ingredients in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and puree until smooth. Using plastic wrap, roll the butter into a 2-inch cylinder and wrap tightly. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Cook the Clams: In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Add the
shallot, garlic, and white parts of the scallions and sauté until they begin to color lightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the clams and the beer, cover, and let steam until the clams start to open, about 8 minutes - As the clams open, use a slotted spoon to transfer them from the pot to a serving bowl. Repeat this until all the clams are open and in the serving bowl, leaving most of the cooking liquid in the pot.
- Make the Sauce: Add the lemon juice and parsley butter to the liquid in the pot and whisk until the butter has melted. Taste the sauce—it should be salty. Season with salt and pepper as needed, then pour the sauce over the clams.
- Garnish with the scallion greensand serve sourdough on the side.
Date Published: 09.26.23
