Lunch / Dinner
Bouillabaisse Clambake
Clambakes aren’t just for those who live near surf and sand. You can enjoy a seaside tradition right from your stove top no matter where you live. A stove-top clambake is a simple one-pot meal that you can indulge in far from salty ocean breezes. How’s that possible? The term clambake is really a misnomer — nothing’s baked, but instead steamed. You only need access to clams, a large pot, a steaming liquid, and a stove.
Build a flavor-packed liquid for steaming with ingredients from the classic Provençal seafood stew, bouillabaisse [BOOL-yuh-BAYZ], like fennel, leeks, saffron, herbes de Provence, and white wine.
A little preparation ensures your clambake will go off without a hitch. Before you start the steaming (it’s a snap), have all the components ready to go. That means cut the vegetables, clean the shrimp, and scrub the clams. Discard any clams with broken shells or that are open and don’t close when tapped. Once everything is chopped and cleaned, it’s as simple as layering the ingredients into the pot with the directions below.
Ingredients
SAUTÉ:
COMBINE:
LAYER:
Test Kitchen Tips
Once the bouillabaisse broth is made you’re ready to start steaming. At this point, you can either put a steamer basket into the pot or use seaweed in its place, see box right. One pound of seaweed is all you’ll need to keep the clambake components afloat.
The ingredients of this clambake all take different amounts of time to steam. It’s important to build the layers in the order listed in the recipe, so when the last additions are finished cooking all the other ingredients are, too. Check the clams again, and discard any that aren’t open — they’re dead and shouldn’t be eaten.
Although this clambake is delicious enough on its own, serve it just like a classic bouillabaisse in shallow dishes with the broth and with the bread and aioli. Spread the aioli on the bread and dunk it in the broth. Swirl the aioli in the broth so it’s thicker and creamier, or use it as dipping sauce for the clambake ingredients.
In a classic seaside clambake, seaweed is layered under and over the ingredients so that during steaming the seawater-filled pockets burst, adding briny flavor to the ingredients. Ask for seaweed at the fish market. It’s often used to pack and ship shellfish. If they don’t give you the seaweed free of charge, it should only set you back a few bucks.
Instructions
Sauté fennel, leek, garlic, and herbes de Provence in oil in a large pot over high heat until fennel begins to brown, 5 minutes.
Combine wine, orange juice, and saffron in a bowl, then deglaze pot with mixture, and stir in tomatoes. Insert a steamer basket.
Layer potatoes in basket, cover, reduce heat to medium, and steam 15 minutes.
Add clams, cover, and steam 15 minutes. Top clams with kielbasa, shrimp, and corn; cover and steam until clams open and shrimp are opaque and shells are pink, 5–10 minutes more. Discard any unopened clams.
To serve, divide broth among four shallow bowls, then divide potatoes, clams, kielbasa, shrimp, and corn among each serving.
Clean clams with a stiff brush under cold, running water to remove mud or sand from the shells.
Crumble the saffron threads between your fingers so they dissolve easily into the white wine.
Deglaze the pot with the white wine mixture. It helps dissolve the flavorful bits stuck on the bottom.
To ensure the ingredients steam, keep them out of the liquid with a steamer basket over the broth.
Since they take the longest to cook, layer the potatoes into the steamer basket before the other ingredients.
Nutritional Facts
Nutritional Facts
Per serving
Calories: 908
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 32g 49%
Saturated Fat 10g 50%
Cholesterol 132mg 44%
Sodium 1388mg 57%
Carbs 99g 33%
Fiber 16g 64%
Protein 41g
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.