Clams

Well, been a long time since posting here.

I know any of you readers who actually come here, well, are just not surprised :)

But that being said... the late summer has been clamming.

We get hard clams in the back bays around here, the water is clean, and they taste great.

Size varies according to grade:

LITTLE NECKS (or littlenecks) are the smallest commonly
available size of east coast hard shell clam. They’re named after
Little Neck Bay on New York’s Long Island, once an important
clamming center. Littlenecks are the best choice for eating on
the half-shell (raw) because they are tender, sweet and are great
steamed, roasted or over pasta.
In New Jersey, the minimum size of hard clams that may be
harvested is 1½ inches in length. Clams less than 1½ inches in
length must immediately be returned to the bottom from which
they were taken.
Little Necks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .1 1/2 - 2 inches 

MIDDLE NECKS are the next size up and has the same
applications at the little necks. This is the minimum size New
York State allows to be harvested and sold within it’s boundaries.
Middle Necks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 to 2 1/2 inches

TOP NECKS can meet the applications as noted and is perfect
size for Clams Casino.
Top Necks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 1/2 to 3 inches

CHERRYSTONES are named after Cherrystone Creek on
Virginia’s eastern shore. They’re a little larger than littlenecks
and can be eaten raw, roasted, steamed, in chowder, or stuffed.
Cherrystones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-4 inches

CHOWDER clams are the largest size. The meat is tough, but
they make flavorful chowder. They are usually chopped, minced,
or diced for use in chowders, clam cakes, fritters, dips and
spaghetti sauce.
Chowders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-6 inches in width

Lately I've taken to making "stuffed clams":

Stuff Clams
preheat oven to 350

In pan, medium heat:
olive oil
chopped onion, saute until clear
1-2 T pesto
1T garlic
fresh basil, fresh parsley

20 top neck to 15 cherry sized clams, juice separated, minced, washed

add to pan, saute to warm

add 1-2 cups of seasoned bread crumbs, or panko, or mix of each

add clam juice to "moisten" not "dampen"... do NOT want it mushy, just sticky.

turn off heat.

Take large spoon and add to cleaned, opened, larger half shells from clams above
 to make a full, rounded, batch of mixture in each shell. Place on tray.

drizzle melted butter over each

grate fresh locatelli cheese over each one (hint: grate into bowl and use small spoon
to sprinkle over top of each stuffed clam)

place on tray, spaced and bake for 20-25 minutes @ 350

serve

Clamming the back

....On a hot hot day

There is a song that, for some reason, came to mind while looking at the second picture:

California Dreamin'

The Mamas and the Papas

All the leaves are brown (all the leaves are brown)
And the sky is grey (and the sky is grey)
I've been for a walk (I've been for a walk)
On a winter's day (on a winter's day)
I'd be safe and warm (I'd be safe and warm)
If I was in L.A. (if I was in L.A.)

California dreamin' (California dreamin')
On such a winter's day

Well the leaves aren't brown, the sky was not grey, and I just just finished walking over a football field size area of mud in search of a few clams. Which I found.  I only wanted a few and was selective on size. Success on both fronts, came back with about 50, to be split among some friends and enjoyed ourselves.

We have just finished what turned out to be a genuine heat wave, with high temps well above 90F for over 2 weeks.

Thankfully, my wife reminded me to pack a cup of ice, in addition to the bottle of water.
Sitting down in the cool, incoming water, really really was feeling refreshed.

Of course, after this we bugged over to Gilchrist's for breakfast, then out the inlet
to take in Atlantic City from a totally flat, gorgeous oceanview.

Coming back in, we were greeted by a trio of bottlenose dolphins.

 

Weather's been great. Hey, it's summer!  Do I need to be a California dreamer?

 

No way!

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A Day on the Bay

ok, I probably need to get more creative with titles, but yesterday's activities really qualifies.

The weather finally cooperated for once, and I simply took a day off from work.

Good choice.

Went out on the waverunner with some friends to go clamming. Yes, wrote about that earlier, but yesterday had the "full contingent" out there: 3 waverunners and 4 clammers. Sort of. I don't qualify as a clammer, but I'm starting.

We left from our usual Absecon ramp, with a little more wind than expected. Duh, the story of the year. NOAA says 5-10 and lessening winds, and instead it was 10-15 with gusts.  Ok, it did calm down by the end of the morning...

One fellow, Jeff, clammed these backbays about 40 years ago when he was a teenager. It's always fascinating to speak with "a local"... he spoke about different bays, and using the foot technique: walking barefoot and feeling for the clams in deep, soft, mud. Not something I'd feel comfortable doing, even as a teenager, but hey, he was a clammie :)

We got out to the usual bar, setup and spent a good hour walking around, digging, and loading the clams back up to the waverunners.

A bit tired (yeah, we're old farts by now), tooled around the bay and then zipped over to Gardner's Basin, to a fantastic waterfront place called Gilchrist. Nice breakfast/lunch place.

Finished up and headed back out, and saw the lineup at the inlet portion of Brigantine. Now this was a nice day in June, but it was a Tuesday. Doesn't anybody work anymore?

So, after getting back to the ramp, I checked in on my brother in law, and the afternoon fishing was "on"... he got some word that there were fish hitting.

"They slew them yesterday over at the guzzles"  "ut oh" I thought. Anyone slaying anything the day before usually spells trouble for today, but we really had no choice. Prior scouting hadn't yielded any better news.

So, I got down to the dock where the boat was, we loaded up and took the ride South... about a half hour trip or so.

Getting there, we ran into some serious wind against tide. While I know better, and was thinking about using a float rig (for another post), I didn't. And we didn't catch for quite a while.

So, we started moving back, finding a little shelter, and eventually found some fish.

Dolphin Play

After getting a few keepers, and it getting a bit late in the day, we made our way back North, cutting across the Great Egg Harbor Inlet.

There, we got to witness some of nature's beauty and power, as about 30-40 eastern bottlenose dolphin   were corralling and pounding baitfish. We powered down and just watched the show for a while. I didn't have a great camera, but a few shots at least give a glimpse of the beauty. The pictures don't really give the full impact of what we witnessed, but it's what I have.

Back at the dock, gnats hitting ferociously, we filleted the flounder and divided up fish and clams...

A beautiful day on the Bay!

Back Bay

Took a trip in the back on the "new ride" to do some clamming. 


Along the way out,  found a disabled‎ boater and my friend Pat helped him back to the ramp before we headed back out. Eventually we made it to the ramp, let the fellow and his son off and ran back out. 

Note that this was to be my first clamming trip ever (yes, I purchased the recreational license :) )
and only the 3rd trip out on the waverunner.  For rakes, my friend Pat loaned an inexpensive short hand-rake (a converted garden rake).  Works ok, though it will be interesting to see what my other friend Jim uses. He apparently has a different (and I'm told "more traditional") rake. Pat found his favorite cut and bar, and we anchored up, tide was just off low in the back.

    

We had limited time but found a decent load of clams...  ok, maybe not by professional clammer standards, but for my first trip, we had over 80 clams in a 1/2 hr.  That was enough for me (not the digging, but the actual number of clams) so we loaded back up and did a little touring before heading back to the ramp. We probably would have loaded up more, but Pat had a time limit and the tow assist cut into our actual time on water.

Forecast was iffy for our area, however, as often happens in our area, we could watch the storms cross southern jersey and dissipate before reaching us.

All we were left with were clouds, which eventually yielded to a clear, calm evening on the bay! 


 

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