The Cataplanas and the Clams

Over Thanksgiving week our house was full of guests from California, Minnesota and Florida who wanted to explore Santa Fe and do some shopping while they were here. During one of their forays into the downtown shops, they visited The Spanish Table - a cooking store full of products from Spain and Portugal. Carole went along as the tour guide while I finished making the stuffing and came home carrying a shiny new copper Cataplanas as a gift for me. Of course, I had no idea what exactly one did with a Cataplanas but was able to figure it out once I dug up my copy of The Spanish Table Cookbook someone had given me a couple of years ago. Since we had been eating Turkey for three days in a row, we decided that something else was in order for dinner, so we opted for steamed clams in white wine and garlic sauce for this Sunday's dinner. OK, so clams are not "local" to Santa Fe but you have to forgive us this once. We still crave the ocean every now and then!

See the photo album, "Cataplanas" on the right side of this page for the step-by-step photos of how we used it. 

Steamed Clams in White Wine and Garlic Sauce

Ingredients

3 dozen littleneck or cherry stone clams (as fresh as you can find them, even if you're in the desert)

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red chile pepper

3 cloves of garlic (or more to taste)

2 shallots

1 cup dry white wine or champagne (whatever is open and in need of being used)

1/4 quarter cup chopped parsley

1 loaf crusty bread for sopping juices

Method

Wash and scrub all clams under cold water until clean and free of any grit, then dry them off and set aside.

Using a cataplanas pan (or any other large pan with tight fitting lid), place olive oil, butter, garlic, shallots and crushed red pepper into pan and heat until garlic and shallots begin to brown (being careful not to let them burn).

Once sauce garlic and shallots begin to brown, add clams and wine and close the lid. Place lid on tightly and bring mixture to a boil for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until all clams have opened.

Serve immediately in soup bowls with warm crusty bread for sopping the liquid.

Serves 4