Clams Under $10

Today, more than usual, I was desperately homesick for my mom. Living 7-8 hours away from her and my younger brothers never seemed very far, until I decided to get married --- and I don't have them here with me while I plan, and stress.

So, craving her presence I decided to fall back on the comfort of my kitchen and made a dish I learned from her so long ago ( I even remember refusing to eat this particular dish as a child, but lately I find it reminds me of home). Its simplicity is one of the best things about it – and it has very common ingredients that most of us food enthusiasts have lying around the house.

While I don't prefer the canned clams, they do make the dish simple and cheap, and if rinsed thoroughly they can still have a clean flavor.

Linguine with White Clam Sauce

(Serves 4)
3/4-1 lb. Linguine pasta
4 – 6.5 oz. cans chopped clams (you can also use minced clams if preferred) –
RESERVE CLAM JUICE
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small bunch parsley, coarsely chopped
1 lemon, chopped with seeds and rind removed
Optional 2-4 tbsp. cornstarch

This recipe requires a little bit of work ahead of time to clean and prepare the clams. Even when working with canned clams you tend to get some grit and sand mixed in with the juice, so first you definitely want to make sure your clams (and juice) are clean. To do this, first I drain the clam juice into a tall glass (or two), cover them with foil and allow them to sit for at least 4 hours in a cool place to allow the sand to settle to the bottom. Then suck up the clean juice carefully from the top with a turkey baster and set aside in a clean measuring cup.

Meanwhile, in order to clean the clams, place them in a small wire strainer and submerse the strainer and clams into a bowl filled with clean cold water and agitate. I repeat this 6-7 times and then rinse once with the tap and set aside.

Once these steps are complete you’re ready to proceed with this recipe.

First, cook the linguini pasta according to the package instructions.

Meanwhile, cover the bottom of a small skillet with the olive oil and heat. Brown the chopped garlic in the olive oil and let sit. Add the clam juice (approximately 1 1/2 to 2 cups cleaned) and heat to a low boil. If you want a thicker, creamer sauce (the way my hubby prefers it) you can add a few tablespoons of cornstarch at this point and whisk while heating until the sauce remains smooth (not chunky).

Add the clams and let simmer 10 minutes. Add the parsley and lemon at the end and serve over cooked linguine.

Price Break-Down for Recipe:
For every recipe I post here there are a few items that I assume every cook will have on hand, so those items (where indicated) will not be included in the price break down. For this particular recipe I assume you have: olive oil, fresh garlic and cornstarch.

4 – 6.5 oz. cans chopped clams - $1.39 per can – $5.56 Total
1lb. package of Linguini pasta – 10 for $10 this week at my local market - $1.00 Total
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley - $0.99 per bunch - $0.99 Total
1 lemon – 3 for $1 - $0.33 Total
Total for Recipe: $7.88 for 4 servings.

Even if add a tossed salad with a quick olive oil, balsamic and herb dressing I can still pull this meal together for under $10! With that kind of savings you can even throw in a nice, but still cheap, bottle of white wine and not feel guilty about the indulgence.

**TIP**
If I do splurge on the bottle of white wine I will throw 1/3 cup of it into the sauce for a little extra something. Enjoy!

Per serving (sauce): 180 calories, 2 g protein, 2 g fiber, and Very High in Vitamins A and C

One Pot Wonders - Our Favorite Gumbo

It is a strange thing, to be trapped by a cage you’ve built around yourself. You set out with all these dreams and ambitions and along the way each decision seems like it is the best one to get you to where you want to be, but then all of a sudden you wake up one day and you are suddenly leading a life you never intended to…and there is no easy way out. I admit that is exactly how I felt when I met Jon for the first time two years ago. He was the perfect breath of fresh air; a much needed revelation. Somehow his mere proximity to me served as the perfect balance to the dissonance I was experiencing in my life and I just let myself become completely absorbed in “us” and never looked back.

Since then we’ve barely spent a day apart. We moved in together immediately (literally, within weeks of meeting). We share one car, so every day he drives me to work in the morning before starting his work day, and picks me up on his way home. Then... there is living in such close quarters (sharing a single room in various apartments with various roommates - with various disgusting behaviors) for the past two years, which has certainly put our relationship to the test, and there have been more than a few moments when we’ve agreed that if we can survive this we can survive anything.

But, no matter how badly our day may go, we always come together at dinner time. Somehow when we sit together on the couch watching Everybody Loves Raymond reruns and start to laugh, we can talk casually about everything and nothing…just seeking comfort in the sound of the other persons’ voice. The tensions of the day ease and we remember why we love each other.

Here I want to share some of our all-time favorite recipes; those soul stirring, mouth watering recipes that give a little extra spice to our life. This particular recipe is one of those great soups to make from a leftover roast chicken the night before. After the roast chicken dinner we usually divide the remnants into three leftover containers – leftover de-boned meat, leftover fat and gravy, and left over stuffing/vegetables. This will make it convenient to pull out specific components of the leftover chicken at various points in the following gumbo recipe. There are many variations to this recipe, and any trio of meat (e.g., bacon, steak, chicken or shrimp, salmon, sausage and so on) or vegetables (e.g., corn, peppers, celery or squash, zucchini, onion and so on) can be used in exchange of the meats/vegetables suggested here. Whatever the choice(s), the final product will be so full of flavor it is bound to leave everyone wanting more.

Spicy Sausage-Chicken-Shrimp Gumbo
(Serves approximately 8-10 depending on appetites)Soup Base

1 cup leftover chicken fat (We’ve also used leftover bacon fat for a smokier flavor to the finished soup if chicken is not on hand; or butter can be used if no other fat base is available, but butter will not caramelize as well and must be cooked over a low heat for a longer period of time than indicated in the first steps of this recipe).
1 cup flour (I like to use un-bleached all-purpose flour, but whole-wheat flour will also work.)
4-6 cups chicken stock (Adjust to preference, less water will result in a thicker broth and more, a thinner broth. We often us Better than Bouillon Chicken Base to make the stock when we don’t have any homemade on hand)

Vegetable Trinity
1 large red pepper, chopped and deseeded
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (we remove most the seeds, but leave the white pulp, which is the main source of heat in the pepper)
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped celery

Meat Trinity
3/4 pound sausage, cut into one-inch pieces (generally this is leftover as well. We’ve used andouille, sweet or spicy Italian and some others for equally yummy results – We also remove the casings before slicing which is a personal preference and not necessary for delicious results.)
3/4 pound leftover chicken, both light and dark meat, coarsely chopped
1/2 pound shrimp, de-shelled, deveined and cooked

Spices
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper to Taste

**NOTE** I use the same pot to cook all the components (shrimp, sausage if none leftover etc.), leaving the flavor to build up in the oil in the bottom of the soup stock.

First, you want to create the roux (a fat and flour combination that is used as a thickening base of most soups). To do this, heat the fat over a medium heat in the bottom of a large soup pot and add the flour. Stirring continuously, continue to heat the flour/fat mixture until it turns the color of peanut butter, which takes approximately 15 minutes. If the roux starts to get too thick or sticky to stir (and to prevent it from burning on the bottom of the soup pot) add a few tablespoons of the chicken broth until it loosens up.

Once the roux has caramelized add about 1 cup of the broth, the vegetable trinity (in this case the onions, peppers and celery), garlic, chili powder, and cayenne. Stir until well mixed and then slowly add the remaining broth, then the sausage and leftover chicken, stirring continuously. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for at least two hours. The lengthy cooking time allows for the flavors to develop and be very robust in the finished gumbo.

Just before serving, stir in the cooked shrimp and fresh basil leaves. You want the shrimp to be warmed through, but you don’t want them to get stringy (or the broth to get too fishy) so we put them in at the end. Cook for 10 minutes more and then serve over cooked white or brown rice and topped with sour cream to dull the heat. Enjoy!

Per Serving:
450 Calories
24 g Protein
High in Vitamins A & C