Our Best Dish of the Seafood Night - Linguine with Clam Sauce!

Wow! Popping with garlic and just the right blend of spices and olive oil, our linguine with clam sauce was mouth-wateringly delicious! We enjoyed our pasta course before the entrée in a moderate-sized portion so we’d have room for the rest, but let me say that I could’ve had two more helpings and stopped in my tracks right there! 

I’ve had plenty of clam sauce concoctions before and this was no mass prepared, bland-for-the-masses spaghetti works style offering. I’ve eaten clams in some very nice restaurants and they had nothing on the flavor of this dish. 

We enjoyed our pasta with the clams already shelled and in the sauce, and although I do love the presentation (and the flavor) of whole, still in the shell clams, for our purposes this style of serving fit the occasion well. If you’re digging into a bowl of clams or clam-sauce pasta as your main meal, it seems more fitting to work your way through, shelling as you go; however, as a light serving for a pre-entrée course, this was best (especially to serve twelve people). 

I’ve included here for you a couple of recipes to give a try. There are so many variations on clam sauce for pasta… the possibilities are nearly endless. Some are simply olive oil, garlic and spices as we enjoyed. Some include cream or cheese as well.  

Experiment and see what you like the best. And if you’re not a huge seafood eater, don’t be afraid! We have people in our group who are not and they LOVED this dish! Come on! Give it a go!

1) Linguine With Clam Sauce

Found at: www.allrecipes.com

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/linguine-with-clam-sauce/detail.aspx

 Submitted By: Dorothy Rinaldi

Servings: 8

"For a quick and easy clam sauce, toss canned clams in a pan with butter, oil, garlic, parsley, basil and pepper. Serve hot over linguini."

 Ingredients:

5 ounce) cans minced clams, with juice

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried parsley

ground black pepper to taste

1/4 tablespoon dried basil

1 (16 ounce) package linguini pasta

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce. Combine clams with juice, butter or margarine, vegetable oil, minced garlic, parsley, basil, and pepper in a large saucepan. Place over medium heat until boiling. Serve warm over pasta.

2) Linguine with Clam Sauce Bon Appétit

Found at: www.epicurious.com

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Linguine-with-Clam-Sauce-131

Usually clam sauce is loaded with cream and butter. Here, only a touch is needed in a lighter version of an old favorite.

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 6 1/2-ounce can chopped clams, drained, juices reserved
3 tablespoons dry white wine
3 tablespoons light sour cream
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

6 ounces linguine

Preparation:

Melt butter in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes. Mix in clams and stir 1 minute. Add wine and bring to boil. Stir in reserved juices from clams, sour cream and parsley and simmer 2 minutes to mellow flavors. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook linguine in large pot of rapidly boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Add pasta to clam mixture in skillet. Bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Transfer to bowls and serve immediately.

3) Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Found at: www.foodnetwork.com

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/linguine-with-white-clam-sauce-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

1 pound dry linguine or spaghetti

• Kosher salt
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup water
• 36 little neck clams, scrubbed
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Boil the pasta until al dente, tender but still firm.

While the pasta cooks make the clam sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add the pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the wine and water and increase the heat to high. Add the clams, cover, and cook, shaking the pan periodically, until all the clams are opened, about 6 minutes.

Drain the pasta and add to the clam sauce. Add the parsley and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide among heated bowls and serve immediately.

Buona mangia! That’s Italian for “good eats”!

We definitely “feasted” on Saturday night. First with our eyes, and then we dug in to a sumptuous seafood inspired meal! I say we feasted with our eyes, partially because the food and drink of the evening was lovely - very holiday-festive - and because the care taken for small details pushed this Dinner Club into the realm of fantastic! 

Details count. The pre-dinner Campari cocktail we enjoyed was one example (see below for a recipe). This meal was supposed to be representative of an Italian Christmas Eve. Holidays call for that extra sparkly-something and this cocktail filled the bill! Campari, blood orange juice and prosecco or moscato di asti (depending on how sweet you prefer things) made a delicious and gorgeous combination in the champagne flutes!



Crab Crostini appetizer

While we sipped cocktails and greeted everyone we chose to dine on our appetizers while mingling rather than seated at the table. The gamberini in sfoglia (shrimp with puff pastry) was buttery-delicious with just the right amount of dill to add a tang. Our lump crab crostini were so simplistic and tasty. They really let the flavor of the high-quality jumbo-lump crabmeat shine through while still managing to be attractive with hints of roasted red bell peppers, fresh chive, basil and olive oil. 







Split Entree Plate



After our pasta course (which, by the way, wins for my “best dish of the night”, we had a split entrée of salt cod with tomatoes and capers on one side of the plate (a small “sample size” portion for each of us) along with broccoli with wine and garlic sauce and a shrimp marsala “housewife style”. 

The cod, as we expected, probably ranked last on everyone’s “thrill list” for the night, but I’m glad I tried it. That’s part of the deal with Dinner Club. Having a setting and an opportunity to introduce yourself to new dishes without the restaurant setting where you’ve paid $30 for an entrée you simply don’t adore! The sauce on the cod, a rich blend of tomato, garlic and crushed red pepper was quite tasty. I’d give it a try on any number of other seafood options or on chicken.

Our finale for the night (and I want you to know it’s a tough choice to make between this dessert and the linguine for “best dish”) was a homemade chocolate chip cannoli! One of our “guy chefs” really went the extra mile here! He made his own cannoli tubes and filled them with a delectable sweet ricotta blend including miniature chocolate chips. His presentation of the dessert wins by a landslide with the care he took to dip each end of the cannoli in a separate garnish!

Fresh fruits, nuts and clementine
tea light holders on the table.

The table-décor really filled the bill this time in evoking the spirit of a Mediterranean Christmas! Rather than the Santa and reindeer route, it was a bountiful harvest of fresh nuts, persimmons, pears, lemon leaves and fresh rosemary sprigs scattered around the nativity (or crèche) – a absolute must of the traditional Italian “la viglia”!





Plating (and garnishing) our
cannoli dessert!

It was a memorable meal and a perfect night to dine together, to catch up on one another’s lives, and simply enjoy spending time chatting, stirring, sipping and smiling! You can’t do that for five or six hours at restaurant! I’ll see you next week for more on our “best dish” for this one and then we’re off into full-force holiday mode around here! Keep reading!



Our pre-dinner cocktails!

Here's one recipe online for a cocktail like the one we enjoyed. Give it a try during the holiday season for a festive (and deliscious) touch to your special meal!

I found this one at: http://laylita.com/recipes/2009/02/14/bubbly-blood-orange-campari-cocktail/

Ingredients:

2-3 large blood oranges, juiced, about 1/3 cup juice

1 oz campari

Chilled sparkling wine – choose from prosecco, champagne, cava, brut, etc

Optional garnish – blood orange peel or blood orange slice

Preparation:

1. Pour 1 ½ oz of blood orange juice in each champagne flute.
2. Add ½ oz of campari.
3. Top off each drink with sparkling wine, garnish with a slice of blood orange and enjoy.

And Feast, We Will! – A Little History on the Southern Italian Tradition of “The Feast of the Seven Fishes”.

One of the things I appreciate about our Dinner Club is the willingness among its members to try dishes and themes that we’ve not been exposed to previously. I love that our group comes with ideas each year that we choose to pursue doggedly, regardless of our own typical eating preferences and “safe” familiar foods.

This week’s Dinner Club is just such an occasion. We will explore a menu based on a Southern Italian Christmas Eve tradition of honoring religious heritage by dining on a meal consisting solely of seafood.

According to www.wikipedia.org, “The Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci), celebrated on Christmas Eve, also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), is believed to have originated in Southern Italy and is not a known tradition in many parts of Italy. This celebration is a commemoration of the wait, Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus.”

Regional gastronomical traditions are a thing we can relate to right here in the United States. For example, most of the Midwestern-rooted families here in Nebraska eat some sort of bread “stuffing” with their upcoming Thanksgiving turkey dinner. My family tradition is different, having emerged from my mother’s southern heritage. We dine on “dressing” from a base of cornbread and biscuits rather than bread.

Again, according to www.wikipedia.org, “The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstinence—in this case, refraining from the consumption of meat or milk products—on Fridays and specific holy days. As no meat or butter could be used on such days, observant Catholics would instead eat fish, typically fried in oil. There are many hypotheses for what the number "7" relates to, one being the number of Sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. Another theory is that seven is a number representing perfection: the traditional Biblical number for divinity is three, and for Earth is four, and the combination of these numbers, seven, represents God on Earth, or Jesus Christ.”

The Southern roots of “the feast” are not only in homage to their religious beliefs, but an opportunity to showcase the fruits of the sea so readily available in this region from areas such as Puglia, Calabria and Campania (where Naples is located).

According to an article at www.saveur.com, “The dishes and the types of fish served for La Vigilia are ultimately dictated by geography. In Naples, for instance, the devout leave certain treats on the table overnight for the angel who heralds Christ's birth; for this reason, many dishes are vinegar-based to preserve them. Around Lake Como in the north, large trout, which are only fished during the holiday season, are common.” For the complete article, visit: http://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/Feast-Of-The-Seven-Fishes .

For our feast, we’re combining these traditional dishes such as salt cod with tomatoes and capers, with elements that are less experimental, but completely “pesci” (and assuredly palatable to our Midwestern taste buds), such as “gamberini in sfoglia” (puff pastry shrimp) and crostini with lump crab salad. For dessert; homemade cannoli! The meal is sure to satisfy everyone, even those who aren’t “typical” seafood consumers!

Here’s another fun link to a video commentary by well-known chef Mario Batali on his own family history with the “feast”: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/christmas/batalisevenfishesvideos?currentvideo=5295883001 .

Finally, a recipe to share with you: This is what I’ve been assigned to make for the night. It’s super-simple and sounds amazing! Sometimes the most basic flavor combinations tend to produce the most delicious results; even absent of rich sauces and a lengthy list of ingredients. Here’s hoping it’s as good as it sounds. And if not, there will be plenty else to eat on our menu this Saturday! I’ll let you know how it goes, of course.

We found this recipe online at: http://www.epicurious.com/ :

Crostini with Lump Crab Salad and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Epicurious | November 2007
Rick Tramonto
Reprinted with permission from Fantastico!
Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Rick Tramonto's book Fantastico!

Don't look any further for a succulent crab salad open-face sandwich. The little garlic toasts piled high with rich, moist crab can be polished off in one or two bites. I can't think of a better way to start a meal! Don't skimp on the crabmeat. You need only a pound, so buy the best you can find. Bon appétit!

Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh lump crabmeat
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 roasted red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1 tablespoon torn fresh basil
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

8 to 12 slices Rick's Basic Crostini

Preparation:

1. Pick through the crabmeat to remove any bits of shell. Transfer to a nonreactive bowl.

2. Add the 1/2 cup of olive oil, bell pepper, chives, basil, lemon juice and zest and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Top each crostini with about 1 tablespoon of the crab mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

A Recap of Last Season’s Best and Then on to This Year!

Our "Mad Men" dressed in
their 60's best for dinner!

Before jumping off into the culinary delights and good times with friends for this year, I thought I’d recap the highlights of last year’s Dinner Club season. We had six memorable meals, but there are always a few trips down memory lane that I find most entertaining, appetizing, etc.



Tomato and Gouda Soup



Among them were some dishes I’d never had before, but plan to prepare again because they were simply delish! The purpose of this blog is always to encourage others to cook and entertain themselves, but it also is to remind our group of some of the yummy things we’ve accomplished!



We had volcanoes, mai tai's and more
at our Luau Night!



The food at our Brazilian Churrascaria (see my blog entries from February 2011) was so interesting and some of it was new to me. I’ve eaten Churrasco-style food previously, but we really dug deep and tried to stay true to the authentic foods of this country, although we may have slightly “overdone it” when it came to portion size! Ouch!

I was not able to attend our Cheese Focused menu last season, but my dear friends took pictures and provided me with commentary on the food of that Dinner Club. Thanks everyone! The Brie with Caramelized Onions sounded divine! I intend to prepare it as part of my holiday cooking this year.

Some of our Disco-era attire!

Last season our group did two costumed events... One “all out” for our Night at the Disco; a fondue focused-feast (blog entries from January 2011) and one for our Mad Men dinner party where we toned it down a bit, but still had fun digging into the attire of the 1960’s as well as the foods (April 2011)!

Yes, last year was a good one, but we get better and better as the years fly by. Like fine wine, I think we’re aging with style! With that… on to this year’s Gretna Dinner Club Season. Our first menu is posted below for you to take a look at. I’ll begin later this week with more on the “Feast of the Seven Fishes”, a traditional Italian Christmas Eve meal and begin sharing some recipes with you as well. Thanks for reading!

The ladies at our Mad Men dinner party!

Here's the next menu: