Long beach walk on the sunny, windy shoreline near HG/BSK’s Prince Edward Island oceanfront home. HG/BSK, SJ, Handsome Haru, Adorable Teru were on the hunt for beach glass to add to the family collection. Found much. One misfortune, however. SJ tweaked his back while picking up an elusive specimen so was moving a bit gingerly after. Back home there were welcome hot showers. A few gin and vermouth cocktails for HG. SJ put a Beatles compilation in the CD player. The family exploded into hilarity. Teru and Haru proved expert dancers and Haru did a very melodious singalong. BSK, a great dancer, proved she’s still got the moves. The lady rocked out. An hour of music, dance and song. Great preview to a knockout dinner. Despite back pain, SJ produced spectacular linguine with clam sauce. (Using clams plucked from the shore of St. Mary’s Bay the previous day). SJ is not a hidebound traditionalist in the kitchen. His innovations are taste treats. First SJ chopped five pieces of bacon into one inch strips (SJ would have rather used pancetta!) and crisped them in a touch of olive oil. The bacon was then removed and set aside to drain and half of the bacon grease was discarded. Into the pan went a heap of garlic and a minced half of a sweet onion alongside more olive oil. When soft, SJ added about a cup and half of white wine and six halved cherry tomatoes. The clams were then layered on top of the sofrito, and the pan was covered. As soon as the clams opened, SJ plucked them out, made sure any clam juice was saved, and separated meat from the shell (shells were discarded). As soon as the pasta was nearing al dente, it was transferred to the pan with the clam meat to absorb the abundant clam juice/wine/garlic sauce (the large clams dug up at St. Mary’s provided an abundance of juice although their meat had to be chopped up to avoid any toughness). Right at the end, SJ tossed in the crisp bacon, chopped parsley and a hit of olive oil. The result was a silky masterpiece, fragrant with the sea; the clams were perfectly cooked with the bacon creating an undertone of smokiness and the tomatoes adding a hint of needed acidity. The pasta was followed by green salad with chunks of good blue cheese. Assorted sweets for dessert. Another happy day and night.
Those clams are huge. How are the mussels this summer?
Mussels have returned to previous splendor. Family ate four pounds of the big, juicy, flavorful specimens last night.