Wednesday 26 February 2014

Clams with garlic and parsley and artichokes

Yesterday I had a plan to prepare razor shells, but unfortunately I picked the wrong day!. Why?. Let me start from the beginning: last Friday, looking for culinary inspiration for the coming week, I went to the nearby market Sant Antoni - I like going there from time to time just to wander around and see what fish, seafood, vegetables and fruits are in season. In almost every fish stall I noticed razor shells, snails, all kinds and sizes of clams, and on some of them even goose barnacles. I immediately decided that on Tuesday (not Monday, because on that day nobody buys fish, seafood or meat, because they are not fresh) I will prepare razor clams. So, yesterday morning I went to the market. To my surprise I did not find them in any stall, and when I asked what was going on and why on Friday all had them, but that day no one did (actually it's a little strange that their season has ended so abruptly, I thought), a nice gentlemen explained that on Tuesday it did not pay to bring them because almost nobody wants to buy them, and those are one of the seafood that cannot be eaten the next day. Perhaps there is some logic in it...anyway, I will come back to buy them on Friday. For this reason, today there is no razor shell, but there are clams, and with clams there are artichokes.



Ingredients (serves 2):

Clams:

400 g clams
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch of chili flakes or 1/3 fresh chili pepper
handful of thick salt

Artichokes: 

6 artichokes
olive oil
salt

Method:

Clams:

Put the clams in a bowl with cold water and a handful of thick salt. Put it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour - this way the sand, which is in and on clams in abundance, is removed. Before using, rinse them thoroughly under running water and discard the open ones and those with cracked shells.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add finely chopped garlic and fry till golden brown. Add the parsley, chili flakes and lemon juice. After 1 minute or so, add the clams, cover with a lid and cook over high heat until the clams are open. Discard clams that remain closed.

Artichokes:

Cut off the stems, but do not throw them away. Trim off the tips of the leaves and remove the hard external leaves. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, there should be enough oil to cover the entire surface of the pan. Add the artichokes and the peeled stems and fry them until golden brown on each side. Remove artichokes from the oil (you can keep the oil and use it for the preparation of other dishes or just threw it away).

Put the artichokes in a pot or frying pan with a lid, cover them with water and add some salt. Cover and cook until the artichokes absorb almost all of the water and are soft.





Enjoy !!!

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