HOW TO PREPARE THE CLAMS

This recipe calls for Middle-neck clams, but you can use Littleneck clams too. Middle-neck clams are pretty popular in Central Florida and readily available at most supermarkets. They are usually sold in a mesh bag because they are alive and need to breathe.

If your fishmonger places the clams in a plastic bag, be sure to remove them from the bag immediately when you get home from the supermarket. Place the clams in an uncovered bowl in the refrigerator.

To get started, first, check that they are alive by making sure all of the shells are tightly closed. If any clams are open, gently tap on them; if they are alive, they will close their shells. Discard any clams that do not close their shells or have cracked or chipped shells.

Next, place all of the clams in a bowl and cover them with a 50/50 combination of beer and cool tap water. Let the clams sit for 30 minutes to an hour. During this time, the clams will expel sand from inside their shells. When you’re ready to cook, remove each clam from the beer/water mixture and rinse it under running water. Scrub the clam if necessary to get rid of any grit from the surface. Now the clams are ready.

Ingredients:

• 100 fresh Middle-neck clams.
• 1 can of beer.
• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin olive oil, divided.
• 4 Tbsp. Butter.
• ⅓ cup of Chardonnay Wine.
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced.
• 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes.
• Juice from ½ fresh lemon.
• 1 Tbsp. of fresh oregano, or 1 tsp. of dried oregano.
• 1 Tbsp. of fresh basil, or (1 tsp. of dried basil), and more fresh Basil for garnishing.
• 1 Tbsp. of Old Bay Seafood Seasoning.
• 2 Tbsp. of fresh parsley, or (2 tsp. of dried parsley).
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• ½ cup of Parmesan cheese.
• 1 lb of linguine.
• Optional bottle of store-bought Clam Juice for more briny flavoring.

Directions:

• Add 5 quarts of water to a large pot, add 2 tablespoons of salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and bring to a boil.
• Once the water is boiling, add the linguine and cook per box directions.
• While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter and add the olive oil to a large pan or pot.
• Over medium heat, sautee the onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes until the onions are translucent.
• Add wine, lemon juice, basil, oregano, Old Bay Seasoning, and optional store-bought clam juice, combine thoroughly for two minutes.
• Add clams into the mixture.
• Reduce the heat to simmer-low heat and simmer until clams open, about 5-7 minutes.
• Remove 50 of the 100 clams from the pan and remove the clams, discarding the shells.
• Place the clam bodies on a cutting board and roughly chop the clams, and set them aside.
• Drain pasta and place in a large bowl.
• Put chopped clams over the pasta.
• Cover pasta with clam sauce and the remaining clams.
• Sprinkle parsley, parmesan cheese, and whole basil leaves over the dish and serve.
• Optional serving suggestions, fresh Italian bread, and never let a bottle of good wine go to waste. Bon Appetit!

The post Linguine with Homemade Fresh Clam Sauce. appeared first on Cooking with the Count!.

Have you ever ordered Stuffed Shrimp in a restaurant and been totally disappointed because the stuffing was dry, greasy, or tasteless? I have, and I didn’t appreciate it. Have you ever ordered Crab Cakes and they had so much breading that you couldn’t taste the crab? I have and I didn’t appreciate that either.

Come on, let’s make this dish that has the perfect blend of ingredients, tender, perfectly cooked shrimp, and juicy crab-filled stuffing dressed in Garlic, Wine, Butter, Parsley, and Shallots to bring it all together. This is one of those dishes that will make you proud to serve it to your family and friends. They will boast about your cooking skills for decades to come.

Ingredients:

• 12 U4 Shrimp, cleaned and deshelled. Leave the tail on.
• 6 golf-ball size mushrooms, cleaned and de-stemmed.
• 1/2 lb of cleaned crab.
• 1 Egg.
• 3 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise.
• 1/2 Tablespoon Yellow Mustard.
• 1 Teaspoon Worcester Sauce.
• 1 Teaspoon Dry Mustard
• 1 Teaspoon Old Bay.
• 1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice.
• ¾ Cup Bread Crumbs.
• Optional Hot Sauce to taste.
• ⅓ cup Parsley, divided.
• ½ cup of Chardonnay Wine.
• 1 medium-size shallot, thinly sliced and chopped.
• 2 heaping Tablespoons of chopped garlic
• 1 stick of butter.

DIRECTIONS:

Using a glass oven-safe dish

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Gently butterfly the shrimp so they lay flat on your prep station.
• Blend the egg, Mayo, Yellow Mustard, Worcester Sauce, Dry Mustard, Old Bay, Lemon Juice, Bread Crumbs, Parsley, and optional Hot Sauce together in a bowl until well mixed.  
• Gently fold in Crab Meat and mix ingredients together.  
• Scoop a large tablespoon of mixture and tuck it into the shrimp cavity and cover with the tail fin.  
• Make 12 ping-pong ball size balls out of this mixture.  
• Use the balance of the mixture to stuff the mushrooms.

• Garlic Wine Butter Sauce.
• Using a medium-size saucepan, add butter, garlic, wine, parsley, and shallot together and stir.
• Cook over medium heat until the butter has melted and the shallots become translucent.
• Pour about a Tablespoon of the mixture over each stuffed shrimp and mushroom.
• Adding about 1/4″ of the mixture to the bottom of the pan for the shrimp to cook in.
• Place shrimp dish in the oven on the middle rack.
• This dish cooks in about 10 to 15 minutes depending upon the size of the shrimp.
• Watch it closely for the shrimp to turn pink and don’t overcook them.
• Serve hot with toasted baguettes.

The post Crab Cake Stuffed Colossal Shrimp and Portobello Mushroom Caps. appeared first on Cooking with the Count!.

Delicately fine-cut prosciutto wrapped around mozzarella and fresh basil topped with a cherry tomato and a black olive drizzled with a balsamic reduction. Super fast and easy to make with an explosion of flavor!

Ingredients:

• Prosciutto, sliced paper-thin at your deli. DON’T buy pre-packaged prosciutto.
• Fresh Mozzarella, pre-sliced or sliced 1/2″ thick.
• Fresh Basil leaves, washed, and stems removed.
• Small tomatoes, grape, or cherry depending upon your preference.
• 1 can of whole Black Olives.
• Alessi Traditional Balsamic Reduction.

Instructions:

• Lay the prosciutto on a clean, flat surface.
• Beginning at the longest outer-edge of the prosciutto, lay two Basil leaves stem to stem.
• Cut a slice of Mozzarella in half across the width part.
• Top the Basil leaves with a half slice of Mozzarella cheese.
• Starting on the load side of the prosciutto, gently roll the prosciutto over the Basil and Mozzarella to form a roll.
• Cut each roll in two to make two bite-size rolls and put a toothpick to hold the rolls together.
• Cut the tomato in half and place one half on the toothpick.
• Cut a Black Olive in half and cover the tomato.
• Place the rolls on a display tray and drizzle with the Balsamic Reduction.

This can be made a few hours in advance and refrigerated, but wait to drizzle the Balsamic Reduction until ready to serve. Bon Appetit!

The post Prosciutto, Mozzarella, and Basil Appetizer appeared first on Cooking with the Count!.

Ingredients: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

• 1 can of Giant Escargots snails.
• 1 stick of Butter.
• 1 Tbsp of minced or crushed garlic.
• 1 small Shallot, minced.
• ½ of Chardonnay wine.
• ½ chopped parsley.
• 1 24″ baguette, cut-diagonally ¾” thick.
• Olive oil for the baguette.
• Mozzarella Cheese for the baguette.

Directions:

• Rinse snails under running water and remove any shells.
• In a small saucepan, add butter, wine, and shallots. Over low heat, combine until butter is completely melted, stirring occasionally.
• In a small oven-safe glass dish, add parsley, snails, and cover with the garlic-butter sauce.
• Place cut baguette on a silicone-lined sheet pan and brush with Olive oil and top with a generous amount of Mozzarella cheese.
• Place both dishes in the oven with the sheet pan on the rack above the Escargot dish rack.
• Bake until the baguette and cheese is melted and browned to your liking.
• Remove from oven and serve immediately.
• Bon Appetit!

The post ESCARGOT IN GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE. appeared first on Cooking with the Count!.

INGREDIENTS: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

• 6 large bulbs of garlic.
• Extra virgin Olive oil.
• Salt
• Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

• With a sharp knife, cut off the top quarter of each garlic knob.
• Using small oven-safe glass bowls, put one garlic knob in each dish.
• Pour Olive oil over each garlic knob making sure to cover the entire surface of the knob generously. You want the knob sitting in the Olive oil.
• Put a pinch of salt and pepper on each knob.
• Bake on the center rack placement in the oven until roasted to your liking… about 25-30 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let cool.
• With a small fork, pierce each clove of garlic and remove the garlic clove from its sheaths.
• After all the cloves of garlic have been removed from their sheaths, remove any remnants of the sheaths from the Olive oil and re-introduced the garlic cloves to the olive oil.
• You can leave the cloves whole or mash and blend them with Olive oil to make wonderful spreadable garlic butter.
• Bon Appetit!

The post Garlic Butter, Spreadable and Delectable. appeared first on Cooking with the Count!.