Clams Casino Recipe

I’m not big on clams, except for chowder. 😉 but thought that others might appreciate, and a huge thank you to Skeen! 😉

Clams Casino

“Clams casino is a clam ”on the halfshell” dish with breadcrumbs and bacon. It originated in Rhode Island in the United States. It is often served as an appetizer in New England and is served in variations nationally.

According to legend, the recipe for clams casino was originally developed in 1917 in the Little Casino in Narragansett, Rhode Island, by a maître d’hôtel for a woman of means wanting something special for her guests.  Good Housekeeping Great American Classics attributes the dish to Mrs. Paran Stevens and maître d’hôtel Julius Keller.  She named the dish after the hotel, and word and popularity of the dish has since spread across the United States, including New Orleans, where oysters are substituted for clams. Clams casino remains a very popular dish in Rhode Island, “appearing on almost every menu”.

Clams Casino Recipe
By John Mitzewich, American Food Expert
Clams casino is simply the best clam recipe ever. Whenever bacon and butter appear in the same recipe, you know you’re in for a treat! Not only is clams casino an easy recipe to prepare, it can be made ahead of time and popped into the broiler whenever you’re ready.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Makes 18 Clams Casino

Ingredients:

18 medium-sized (about 2 1/2-inches) littleneck clams

2 tablespoon unsalted butter

3 strips center-cut bacon, each sliced into 6 equal pieces (18 total)

3 tablespoon finely diced red bell pepper

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

lemon wedges

rock salt as needed

Preparation;

Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and saute until cooked, but not quite crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate and reserve.

Add the red pepper to the bacon drippings in the skillet, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Turn off the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, black pepper, and salt. Reserve the mixture until needed.

Add about 2 inches of water to a Dutch oven, or other heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, and bring to a rapid boil over high heat. Add clams, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes, or just until the shells open. It’s critical to remove and drain the clams as soon as they open. Allow the clams to cool until they can be handled.

Twist and pull the clamshells apart, and remove the clam. Place the clam back into the deeper of the two shell halves. Spread the rock salt on a heatproof baking dish, and set the clams on top of the salt, pressing in slightly.

Divide the breadcrumb mixture evenly over the top of each clamshell, and top with one piece of bacon. Broil on high, about 8 inches from the heat, until the tops are browned and the edges of the bacon are crisp. Sprinkle on the fresh parsley, and serve hot with lemon wedges.

IOTD

Paris at sunset. Beautiful!

 

 

Calendar day; March 31, 2015

Tuesday, the 31st of March, 2015 is the 90th day in 2015 and in the 14th calendar week.

General Events:

Bunsen Burner Day
March 31, 2015 in the World

Bunsen Burner Day takes place on March 31, 2015. The holiday commemorates the birthday of the inventor of the Bunsen burner: chemist Robert Wilhelm Eberhard von Bunsen was born on March 31, 1811. A Bunsen burner is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion. The gas can be natural gas (which is mainly methane) or a liquefied petroleum gas, such as propane, butane, or a mixture of both.

Bunsen Burner Day is celebrated in different ways. Some even compose songs with lyrics such as: “Just one spark is all that’s needed / To start this show of sweet combustion. / That’s its penultimate function. / Just one light to wake my blue angel of fire. Bunsen burner / It’s the flame that never dies. / My bunsen Burner / You light up the sky in my lab” (by Blegen/Hallock/Roper).

Where is the event?
Worldwide

Transfer Day 2015
March 31, 2015 in Virgin Islands

Transfer Day takes place on March 31, 2015. Transfer Day is a holiday celebrated in the U.S. Virgin Islands on March 31. It marks the transfer of the islands from Denmark to the United States that took place in 1917. The year of 2007 marked the 90th anniversary of the acquisition of the islands.

Where is Transfer Day?
Nationwide Virgin Islands

Eiffel Tower Day
March 31, 2015 in France

On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by Gustave Eiffel, the tower’s designer, and attended by French Prime Minister Pierre Tirard, a handful of other dignitaries, and 200 construction workers.

In 1889, to honor of the centenary of the French Revolution, the French government planned an international exposition and announced a design competition for a monument to be built on the Champ-de-Mars in central Paris. Out of more than 100 designs submitted, the Centennial Committee chose Eiffel’s plan of an open-lattice wrought-iron tower that would reach almost 1,000 feet above Paris and be the world’s tallest man-made structure. Eiffel, a noted bridge builder, was a master of metal construction and designed the framework of the Statue of Liberty that had recently been erected in New York Harbor.

The Eiffel Tower remained the world’s tallest man-made structure until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Incredibly, the Eiffel Tower was almost demolished when the International Exposition’s 20-year lease on the land expired in 1909, but its value as an antenna for radio transmission saved it. It remains largely unchanged today and is one of the world’s premier tourist attractions.

Where is the event?
Nationwide France

Cesar Chavez Day
March 31, 2015 in USA (California, Colorado, Texas)

Cesar Chavez Day is celebrated on March 31, 2015. César Chávez Day is an official state holiday in the U.S. states of California, Colorado and Texas. The day is commemorated to promote service to the community in honor of César Chávez’s life and work. Many, but not all, state government offices, community colleges, and libraries are closed. Many public schools in the state are also closed.

Where is Cesar Chavez Day?
Nationwide USA (California, Colorado, Texas)

National Clam on the Half Shell Day
March 31, 2015 in the USA

National Clam on the Half Shell Day is observed on March 31, 2015. The day is a chance to eat clams in a raw way and in their natural packaging. A clam’s shell consists of two usually equal halves. Clams can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled, baked or fried. They can also be made into clam chowder or they can be cooked using hot rocks and seaweed in a New England clam bake.

There are different names of clams that vary on their size, region and even personal decision of a merchant. When you buy clams in the shell, they must be alive. This is the same rule, as with oysters. Be sure that clams’ shells are tightly closed. If they are slightly open, a light tap should make them quickly shut. If the clams you chose are dead, they can not be eaten.

Where is the event?
Nationwide USA

Historical Events on 31st March:

1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.

1657 – English Parliament makes the Humble Petition to Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell offering him the crown: he declines

1822 – The massacre of the population of the Greek island of Chios by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following a rebellion attempt, depicted by the French artist Eugène Delacroix

1854 – Treaty of Kanagawa: Commodore Perry forces Japan to opens ports to US

1877 – The family with samurai antecedents who responded to the Saigo army in Oita Nakatsu rebels

1889 – 300m high Eiffel Tower officially opens in Paris to commemorate the French Revolution

1909 – In a diplomatic note to Austria, Serbia recognizes the the Bosnian annexation and promises to maintain friendly relations with Austria

1932 – Ford publicly unveils its V-8 engine

1933 – German Republic gives power to Hitler

1939 – “The Hound of Baskervilles”, starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson for the first time, is released

1959 – Dalai Lama fled China & was granted political asylum in India

1965 – US ordered the 1st combat troops to Vietnam

1979 – The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien)

1983 – Earthquake in Colombia kills some 5,000 people

1990 – Riots began in London over the new poll tax laws

1994 – Human evolution: The journal Nature reports the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull

2007 – In Sydney, Australia, 2.2 million people take part in the first Earth Hour