For the Appetizers throwdown here -
https://bbq-brethren.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274391
Something I've never made before but was willing to give it a go:
Rhode Island Clam Cakes
In other parts of the country these would be called Clam Fritters as they certainly don't resemble a cake, but in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts they're called Clam Cakes. I've had them a few times, first at the Rhode Island Building at The Big E out in Springfield MA (an enormous State Fair held in Sept). One serving and I was hooked.
I searched for various recipes, many claiming to be "authentic" Rhode Island Clam Cakes. Who knows what's authentic and what's not? I picked one that I felt was reasonable and set out today to make it.
I made it two ways, one that attempted to be healthier and the other more traditional. So here goes.
Start out by washing, scrubbing and then steaming Quahogs and CherryStones. These Quahogs are pretty huge -
and the CherryStones aren't too far behind in size -
Into the steamer pot they go, till they pop open, about 10 minutes. Fortunately I had no clunkers and they all opened -
Remove the clam meat, rinse out any unwanted gunk and chop them into decent sized pieces. They get mixed with flour, baking powder and salt for the dry ingredients. This recipe called for clam juice, beer, milk and eggs that are mixed with the clams, then added to the dry ingredients, looking like this -
I needed to add additional flour vs. what the recipe called for, otherwise these would have looked like funnel cakes instead of clam cakes. It's a reasonably stiff but pourable mixture.
The healthier baking experiment ready for the Goldens' -
Meanwhile, over on the Blackstone I wanted to use as little oil as possible so I broke out my CI loaf pan and prayed I could get the oil temp up to 350. Fortunately I was able to do so. My other thought was attempting to regulate hot oil on a Kamado is a disaster waiting to happen. At least if I get splashover on the Blackstone it'll be seasoning for the griddle top. And I don't have to deal with the smell of frying oil in the house -
Baked Clam Cakes are done after 10 minutes on the Goldens' -
They tasted fine, but this isn't what I was shooting for -
Oil's up to temp and the first two are in -
And looking pretty good on that first turn -
Turning golden brown and ready to be scooped out -
I won't bore you with any more frying pics, let's get to the plating and eating these delights! -
Supposedly they're normally served with Clam Chowder so they can be dipped into it, but I wasn't making Chowder today, so Cocktail Sauce will have to do -
What does the inside look like? Perfect, exactly as I remember them, though I think mine are better :mrgreen: -
I made about 15 in total, lost count of how many I ate. It would have been more had I not experimented with baking some -
That's it. Dom's take on Rhode Island Clam Cakes. An extremely successful experiment. Oh yeah, the final verdict - these tasted awesome! I would make these again in a heartbeat.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post.
Regards,
-lunchman
https://bbq-brethren.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274391
Something I've never made before but was willing to give it a go:
Rhode Island Clam Cakes
In other parts of the country these would be called Clam Fritters as they certainly don't resemble a cake, but in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts they're called Clam Cakes. I've had them a few times, first at the Rhode Island Building at The Big E out in Springfield MA (an enormous State Fair held in Sept). One serving and I was hooked.
I searched for various recipes, many claiming to be "authentic" Rhode Island Clam Cakes. Who knows what's authentic and what's not? I picked one that I felt was reasonable and set out today to make it.
I made it two ways, one that attempted to be healthier and the other more traditional. So here goes.
Start out by washing, scrubbing and then steaming Quahogs and CherryStones. These Quahogs are pretty huge -
and the CherryStones aren't too far behind in size -
Into the steamer pot they go, till they pop open, about 10 minutes. Fortunately I had no clunkers and they all opened -
Remove the clam meat, rinse out any unwanted gunk and chop them into decent sized pieces. They get mixed with flour, baking powder and salt for the dry ingredients. This recipe called for clam juice, beer, milk and eggs that are mixed with the clams, then added to the dry ingredients, looking like this -
I needed to add additional flour vs. what the recipe called for, otherwise these would have looked like funnel cakes instead of clam cakes. It's a reasonably stiff but pourable mixture.
The healthier baking experiment ready for the Goldens' -
Meanwhile, over on the Blackstone I wanted to use as little oil as possible so I broke out my CI loaf pan and prayed I could get the oil temp up to 350. Fortunately I was able to do so. My other thought was attempting to regulate hot oil on a Kamado is a disaster waiting to happen. At least if I get splashover on the Blackstone it'll be seasoning for the griddle top. And I don't have to deal with the smell of frying oil in the house -
Baked Clam Cakes are done after 10 minutes on the Goldens' -
They tasted fine, but this isn't what I was shooting for -
Oil's up to temp and the first two are in -
And looking pretty good on that first turn -
Turning golden brown and ready to be scooped out -
I won't bore you with any more frying pics, let's get to the plating and eating these delights! -
Supposedly they're normally served with Clam Chowder so they can be dipped into it, but I wasn't making Chowder today, so Cocktail Sauce will have to do -
What does the inside look like? Perfect, exactly as I remember them, though I think mine are better :mrgreen: -
I made about 15 in total, lost count of how many I ate. It would have been more had I not experimented with baking some -
That's it. Dom's take on Rhode Island Clam Cakes. An extremely successful experiment. Oh yeah, the final verdict - these tasted awesome! I would make these again in a heartbeat.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post.
Regards,
-lunchman
