OK, so clambake may be a stretch; clam “boil” or clam “steam” are more accurate descriptions of tonight’s meal, but, for the sake of recognition, I’m calling it a clambake. Clam “boil” doesn’t sound very appetizing, and it certainly doesn’t conjure up the same romantic images of late summer nights at the beach that the term clambake does. An authentic New England clambake is typically a laborious, all-day event. For a traditional clambake, you must dig a giant pit in the sand. Stones are placed in the pit and a big fire is built on top of the stones. Then, the fire is covered in wet seaweed (freshly harvested from the nearby ocean, of course) and whatever ingredients you wish to cook. Most commonly, this is clams, lobsters, potatoes, corn and some type of sausage such as chorizo or kielbasa.

For some reason, when my CSA box came loaded with corn and potatoes this week, I started craving clambake. But, while I may live on the West Coast, I don’t exactly live right on the beach, nor do I have my own backyard or even small plot of dirt into which I could dig a hole for a traditional clambake. I would have to develop a clambake recipe that would work on my stove top. After a short bit of research, I realized that there are actually lots of recipes for indoor clambakes out there. However, most of the recipes I came across called for way too many ingredients and involved way too many steps. I wanted something easy that could be cooked in one pot all at the same time. Using epicurious’ Easy Summer Clambake as a very, very loose guideline, I set to work improvising my own recipe. I decided to really streamline the ingredients. Leeks and garlic for the aromatics, potatoes and corn for the veggies, 1 small link of Spanish chorizo, lots of clams and, instead of lobster, I bought shrimp. Call me a wuss, but I just can’t do the live lobster thing. I think I could actually handle cooking the lobster once I got it home, but the thought of toting the poor thing around with me on the bus home from the market just makes me feel kind of icky.

The key to a successful clambake is layering the ingredients so that they are all done at the same time. Ingredients that take longer to cook go on the bottom; those with the shortest cooking time go on top. Into a large pot with a low-hanging steamer basket, I added my potatoes. Tiny, whole new potatoes are best. Next, I layered the chorizo and corn followed by the shrimp (which I left unpeeled) and finally the clams. For the broth, I added a mixture of white wine and water (enough to just reach the potatoes) and my aromatics. It is important to remember to salt the layers as you are adding the ingredients. In order to ensure that the potatoes would be done, I gave them a 5 minute head start before adding the other ingredients. 8 to 10 minutes later, my clams were open and my shrimp were nice and pink. Robert and I enjoyed the clambake with melted lemon-butter and bread on the side for dipping. To drink, we shared a delicious Spanish Albarino. It was a wonderful way to say goodbye to summer!