Recipe: Manila Clams in White Wine with Saffaron

EHK and I decided to call it a lazy Friday in this past Friday after a tiresome work week. We've never been much of the going out to the bar/lounge/club crowd. Well we do like to go out but the night is usually centered around the meal. Enjoying it, conversing about it and not worry about the next event for the night. 

This particular night we wanted to unwind with a foodie movie... Julie & Julia as well as enjoy a scrumptious meal. So I picked up a 5lb bag of Manila clams and the latest copy of REAL SIMPLE (my favorite magazine... to thumb through when I have a free moment) at Costco. Have I ever mentioned how much I <3 Costco? If I could live there I would! I'm serious. It's got everything you could possibly need. Just think about it... I'm sure you'll find it in my mecca. Ok... back to the meal. We also picked up a loaf of Bread and Cie's Country Levain from Jimbo's. We'd love to actually pick it up from Bread and Cie but heading south from Del Mar/Carmel Valley in the Friday after work rush is pure madness so Jimbo's will have to do.

The last time BevMo had a 5 cent sale I picked up 2 bottles of Mezzacorona Pinot Grigio on the recommendation from one of my IP law classmates. A pretty good deal as the the breakdown was ~$4.50-5/bottle for an 86pt wine. Light, fresh, and crisp! I always have a bottle of white chilled for the next meal and this was the next bottle up :). Thanks for the recommendation Brian! I'll be stocking up at the next sale for sure.

I worked on the clams while EHK worked on the bread. I had initially planned on just slicing up the bread  and maybe giving it a quick toast to sop up the clam broth but he had the brilliant idea to toast it with some olive oil and finish with white truffle oil and sea salt. Uhm...yum even just by itself! I found myself happily munching on the deliciously fragrant slices.We also ended up fighting over the toast to soak up the flavorful broth.  The clams were a nice meal as always- tender, meaty and aromatic. I think the actual weight was about 4.82lbs (yea this for 2 people... so what!!!) so we were thoroughly satisfied by the conclusion of our meal.

This is my ideal Friday night. Good food. Good wine. Good movie. Good company.

• ~5lbs Manila clams
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 tbs of minced garlic (add more if you like garlic)
• Unsalted butter
• ~1 cup dry white wine of choice (something you'd like to drink)
• ~1 cup chicken broth
• Pinch of saffron
• 1 crusty loaf of bread
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt
• White truffle oil

1. Wash the clams thoroughly to make sure all the sand and grit is out. Eating sandy shellfish is never fun. Check out the following link for step by step instructions on cleaning clams. http://allrecipes.com/howto/cleaning-clams/detail.aspx
2. Melt a pat or 2 of butter in a large skillet, brown garlic and sweat the diced onions till translucent.
3. Toss in the clams and give a good coating of butter, garlic and onions. 
4. Add white wine, chicken broth and saffron. Place lid on pan and give a good shake to the pan or stir as needed so clams get equal love in the liquids. Keep the lid on as much as possible so steam can build.
5.  Take off heat when shells have opened, indicating they are done.
6. Slice bread to desired thickness.
7. Drizzle with olive oil on both sides and toast to desired color.
8. Finish with white truffle oil and sea salt
9. Enjoy clams, toast and the rest of that white wine :)

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Bread & Cie

350 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 683-9322

M-F: 7am-7pm

Sa: 7am-6pm

Su: 8am-6pm

http://breadandciecatering.com/default.aspx

Jimbo's

12853 El Camino Real
San Diego, CA 92130
(858) 793-7755
8am to 9pm Daily

*other locations in San Diego County, check website*

http://www.jimbos.com/