Clams Merinieres with Soffritto

Alright, it's been several days since my last post, but here it is, Clams Merinieres with Soffritto.  Total time to cook the clams tonight: about 3 minutes.  Total prep time for the supporting ingredients: 6 hours.

Yes, it took 6 hours of time to prepare the soffritto and garlic confit for the dish.  I actually made the  garlic confit last Friday, and the soffritto on Saturday.  Both keep for a week in the fridge, so I was alright waiting until today to make the dish.

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Garlic Confit is a prominent supporting ingredient in Bouchon, and is used in a number of dishes.  It involves combining peeled garlic cloves with canola oil, and slowing cooking it over low heat with a diffuser until the garlic becomes almost as soft as butter.

In the book it says it should take around 40 minutes for the garlic to get soft enough, but it took closer to an hour.

The following day, I made the soffritto.  It involves caramelizing onions in olive oil over about 2 1/2 hours on low heat on a diffuser.

After about 2 1/2 hours, you puree some plumb tomatoes on a box grater, and add the puree to the mix.

That all cooks for another 2 1/2 hours until bubbles coat the entire surface.  Both the garlic confit and the soffritto can be store in oil for a week in the fridge.

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On to the clams.  The recipe calls for Manila clams, however, everywhere I went to today was out of Manilas.  The fishmonger at Central Market said he could get me some by next Monday, but that would have been too long, so he suggested I use littleneck clams instead, as they would be closest to Manila.

The actual prep time for the clams pales in comparison to the prep time for the soffritto.  Basically you chop up some shallots, thyme, parsley, and have your confit, soffritto, some white wine, and butter ready to go, because you are going to be doing things quick.

First, you rinse the clams under cold water, and if they are dirty, clean the with a scrubber.

Next, you heat your pot up, add some olive oil and the shallots.  The shallots need to be cooked for about a minute, then you add the soffritto, confit, thyme, and salt and pepper.  By this time your kitchen should smell pretty awesome.  Once the combination of ingredients cooks for a bit, the aroma really fills the room and gets you ready for the mollusk-y goodness to come.

Next, you add butter and the clams.

Cook the clams for about 30 second uncovered, then add the white wine, cover, and steam until the clams open.  Once they open you will know they are done.

There should have been chopped parsley in the bowl as well, but I forgot that until about half-way through.  The recipe also calls for a "crouton" (sliced and toasted bread) with either aoli or olive tapenade, however I didn't have time to make either of those, so it had to be just the clams tonight.

And the tasting verdict?

I thought they were very good.  I pretty much inhaled them as soon as I could pry each clam out of its shell.  They had a nice briny taste that I enjoyed, with other complex tastes from the garlic, soffritto, herbs, and wine.  My roommate, Mitchell, didn't share my enthusiasm.  However, at his defense, he isn't fond of seafood, but I am proud of him for trying it.

So there it is, Clams Merinieres with Soffritto.  If you like clams, or seafood in general, you will probably enjoy it.