Johns Clams Casino Food

LYNN'S KILLER CLAMS CASINO

Steps:

• Have vendor that sells clams open them for you.
• Cook bacon until almost crisp (can sauté or bake). Set aside when done.
• Pour enough olive oil in bottom of pan to sauté (I'm somewhat generous with the olive oil). Be sure not to overwhelm the onion and pepper mixture. You don't want it to oily.
• 1 onion chopped pretty well.
• Sauté onion and chopped red pepper. (I use red pepper because it is sweeter taste than green).
• Sauté till onions are almost caramelized.
• Pour Worcestershire sauce on mixture.
• Taste mixture to see if it needs more Worcestershire sauce (we like it tangy).
• Spoon mixture over each clam.
• Crumble almost done bacon.
• Put under broiler for a minute.
• Don't burn bacon.
• Walla this is just the best thing EVER!

JOHN MITOVITCH AND THOM SERRANI'S CLAMS CASINO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Arrange the clams, shell side down, on a rack or baking dish.
• Combine the two tablespoons soft butter with the Tabasco sauce, scallions, garlic, shallots, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, red and green peppers, mustard, Cognac, salt and pepper. Sprinkle an equal portion of the mixture on top of each clam.
• Put the bacon in a saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to the boil and drain. Pat dry. Cut the bacon into small rectangles and cover each clam with a portion of it. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs and pour the melted butter over all. Place in the oven and bake 20 minutes.

CLAMS CASINO

Steps:

• Preheat the grill to high.
• Wash the clams under cold running water, brushing the shells and pulling off any seaweed stuck to them. Make sure they are all tightly closed.
• Peel and very finely slice the garlic, Pick the thyme, and drain and finely slice the peppers.
• Place a deep pan, big enough to hold all the clams, over a high heat. Add the clams and a splash of water and cover with a lid. Cook over a high heat, shaking now and then, until all the clams have opened, then tip onto a tray and leave to cool.
• Snip each bacon rasher into three and place the pieces in a non-stick frying pan. Gently cook over a medium heat just until the bacon is just starting to crisp on both sides.
• Lift the pieces of bacon out of the pan onto a plate and put the pan back on the heat. Add the butter, garlic and thyme and, when sizzling, add the breadcrumbs. Fry, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden and season with sea salt and black pepper. Take the crumbs off the heat and leave them to cool.
• When the clams are cool enough to handle, remove from the shells and chop each into quarters. Tip them into a bowl, add a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of seasoning.
• Rinse the shells and spread out on a large roasting tray.
• Place a few pepper strips into each shell, followed by 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs. Nestle a couple of clam quarters in each one and cover with more crumbs. Top with a piece of bacon and drizzle extra virgin olive oil.
• Once all the clams are filled, pop the tray on a low shelf under the hot grill for 4 to 5 minutes, or until everything is warmed through, the bacon is sizzling and the crumbs are golden brown. Serve with the remaining lemon cut into wedges for squeezing over.

CHEF JOHN'S CLAMS CASINO DIP

Steps:

• Cook and stir bacon with butter in a skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain bacon fat, set bacon aside, and place skillet back onto medium heat. Add jalapeno, red pepper, diced celery, garlic, and green onions; cook and stir until vegetables start to soften, about 3 minutes.
• Pour in reserved clam juice and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Transfer vegetable mixture to plate to cool.
• Open second can of clams and drain juice, combine with reserved clams, cream cheese, bacon, cooled vegetables, juice from lemon, and freshly ground black pepper and hot sauce to taste. Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with chopped bacon and green onion. Serve with crackers.

CLAMS CASINO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until crisp and golden, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a plate. Add the bell pepper, shallots, garlic, and oregano to the same skillet and saute until the shallots are tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until it is almost evaporated, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and cool completely. Stir the reserved pancetta and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese into the vegetable mixture. Season the mixture, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• Line a heavy large baking sheet with foil. Arrange the clams in the reserved shells on the baking sheet. Spoon the vegetable mixture atop the clams, dividing equally and mounding slightly. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan. Bake until the clams are just cooked through and the topping is golden, about 10 minutes.
• Arrange the clams on the platter and serve.

JOHN'S CLAMS CASINO

Steps:

• 1. Partially steam clams just to get them to open (about 2 mins). Carefully shuck clams (remove top shell)
• 2. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.
• 3. Add bacon to pan, cooking until bacon begins to brown, stirring occasionally.
• 4. Add wine. Cook until liquid evaporates (about 30 seconds), scraping to loosen browned bits.
• 5. Add bell pepper, shallots & garlic to pan. Cook 4 mins or until tender. Place mixture in a medium bowl.
• 6. Add breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley & black pepper to bacon mixture. Stir until blended.
• 7. Cover a baking sheet with foil.
• 8. Take a very sharp knife and make 2 small slits across each clam. Drizzle with a little clam juice to keep them from drying out.
• 9. Place each clam in shell on the foil. ** TIP: To keep them from moving & tipping, simply take a small bowl of sea salt and add a tiny bit of water to just moisten the salt & make it clumpy. Place a small mound on the foil & place a shell on the salt mound. It will stay put better.
• 10. Top each clam with an equal amount of the bacon mixture.
• 11. Broil until tops are browned and clams are done. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

CLAMS CASINO

Steps:

• Saute the peppers, shallots and garlic in a medium saute pan briefly in 2 tablespoons of the butter to soften slightly (1 minute maximum). Season this mixture with salt, cayenne and fresh pepper and remove to a plate to cool off. Blend the butter, the cooled off vegetables, parsley and lemon juice in a bowl. Dab a generous amount of this butter mix on each clam, sprinkle with fresh bread crumbs and top with a small piece of bacon. Run under the broiler to heat the clams and brown the bacon. You could also bake the clams in a 425 degree oven for 5 minutes to obtain the same result.

CLAMS CASINO DIP/SPREAD

Steps:

• Cut bacon into 1/4-inch pieces and saute in a skillet with the butter over medium heat 'til completely crisp; drain the fat and reserve the bacon to a plate.
• In same pan with about 1 teaspoon of the drippings saute the jalapeno, red bell pepper, celery, garlic and green onion over medium heat until just the veggies just barely start to soften (about 3 minutes); now add the juice from one can of clams and reduce over high heat until almost all the liquid has evaporated, about another three minutes. Remove mixture to a plate and allow to cool to room temperature before adding to the cream cheese.
• In a mixing bowl combine the cream cheese with the cooled mixture, and stir in the remaining ingredients.
• Transfer into your serving dish and garnish top with a tablespoon or so of the crisp bacon and the green onion tops.
• Serve warm or at room temperature with Ritz crackers or a good bread.

CLAMS CASINO

Steps:

• In a heavy skillet cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until it begins to brown but is not crisp, transfer it with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, and discard the fat from the skillet. In the skillet, wiped clean, cook the onion and the garlic in the oil over moderately low heat until they are softened, add the bell peppers and the orégano, and cook the mixture, stirring, until the bell peppers are crisp-tender. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and stir in the bacon, the vinegar, the Parmesan, and salt and black pepper to taste. The bell pepper mixture may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled.
• Arrange the clams in the reserved shells in a jelly-roll pan filled with some of the coarse salt (to balance the shells), divide the bell pepper mixture among them, and bake the clams in a preheated 400°F. oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are just cooked through. Arrange the clams on a platter filled with more of the coarse salt.