Kitchen Clambake

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds kielbasa

3 cups chopped yellow onions

2 cups chopped leeks, white parts only well cleaned

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 pounds small red or white potatoes

1 tablespoon coarse salt

1/2 tablespoon freshly-ground black pepper

2 doz littleneck clams scrubbed

1 pound steamer clams scrubbed

2 pounds mussels cleaned, debearded

1 1/2 pounds large shrimp in the shell

3 pounds x lobsters - (1 ½ ea)

2 cups good dry white wine

Preparation

Slice the kielbasa diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices; set aside. In a heavy-bottomed 16- to 20-quart stockpot, saute the onions and leeks in the olive oil on medium heat until the onions start to brown, about 15 minutes.

Layer the ingredients on top of the onions in the stockpot in the following order: potatoes, salt and pepper, kielbasa, littleneck clams, steamer clams, mussels, shrimp, and lobsters. Pour in the wine. Cover the pot tightly, and cook over medium-high heat until steam just begins to escape from the lid, about 15 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, and cook 15 minutes more. At this point, the clambake should be done, but test to make sure the potatoes are tender, the lobsters are cooked, and the clams and mussels are open.

Transfer the lobsters to a wooden board, cut them up, and crack the claws. Using large slotted spoons, transfer the seafood, potatoes, and sausages to a large bowl, and top with the lobsters. Strain the broth through a fine sieve, discarding solids. Season the broth to taste, and serve immediately in mugs alongside the clambake.

To serve, serve with some corn and a tomato salad on the side. Use firm, ripe tomatoes for the tomato salad, and sprinkle them with plenty of coarse salt and some pepper. Cut basil leaves into slivers to make a chiffonade, and layer them over the tomatoes. Accent the plate with a large sprig of basil, and drizzle the whole dish with best-quality olive oil. Cook the corn in boiling, salted water for 5 to 7 minutes.

Comments: Ina sets an informal tone for this family-style meal by substituting newspaper for a tablecloth and using giant napkins affixed with clothespins as lobster bibs. She ladles the clambake into one giant serving dish, which she sets right in the center of the table so that everybody can reach over and dig in. Porcelain-lined saucepans hold empty mussel and clam shells; nutcrackers serve as lobster crackers; and every setting gets a cup of broth - the prize at the bottom of the pot - which is delicious when soaked up with crusty bread. For dessert, there's the first watermelon of the

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Comments

Permalink Laurie Alves
January 3, 2011

Barnaby, Love the recipe it's very classic. I'm a New England Clam "Boil" person, myself. w/ Old Bay, Beer, Chourico...a very different flavor profile :) So nice to see so many different methods of making similar meals :)