Last night I overcame a fear I didn’t know I had.  It was seafood night in our Intro to Garde Manger class, and all day long I was looking forward to some salty water deliciousness.

In the cafe before class I ran into my station partner, Kelly. We’re kind of inseparable at school. Anyway, she was nervous about the inevitable shucking of  clams and oysters that would be taking place. She believes she will slice her hand open. I encourage her that she will be just fine. This will be fun! And think of all the yummy oysters we get to eat (tummy grumbles).

Flash forward to the class demo where our Chef instructor is presents us with some GIANT clams. They’re approximately twice the size of my palms. Disclaimer here: I have ity bity  hands (and ears and feet – but those are besides the point). Anyway, I’m struggling to fit this baseball sized clam in my grasp and I’m supposed to jam a knife into it in the direction of my palm. I froze. A kind of weird paralyzing feeling took over me and I could not bring myself to put any amount of pressure onto the knife into the clam (or my palm). I really didn’t want to go to the emergency room.

Our chef instructor must have seen my hesitation because at that point he grabbed both my hands and with a serious amount of pressure guided the knife stiffly into the clam popping it open (and avoiding my palm). The paralysis washed away. That wasn’t so hard.

But as I reached for the rest of my clams I selectively chose  the ones that appeared to be slightly open (though still alive mind you, they would pinch shut if you tapped them.) I found these didn’t cause the same paralysis as the ones that were practically glued shut.

Claims Casino

Yield: 6 claims

6 claims in the half shell

1 piece bacon, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbs butter

2 tbs onion, minced

dash Worcester Sauce

dash Tabasco

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Directions:

1) Render the bacon in a saute pan, then set aside on a paper towel

2) saute onion and garlic in remaining bacon fat and move to hold with bacon

3) mix the onion, garlic and bacon with the butter and add Tabasco and Worcester sauce

4) add the breadcrumb to the remaining bacon fat to moisten

5) put a dollop of the butter mixture on each clam and cover with the breadcrumbs

6) bake in a 400 degree oven until golden brown on top (about 8 minutes)