Tag Archives: Seafood

From Spain With Love: Almejas a la Marinera

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To avoid the Coronado crowd, the Santos Clan usually hangs out on Breakers Beach, reserving the last cabana each time.  We almost always get to enjoy this small strip of  ocean front pretty much to ourselves, thanks to the family members who have served and are serving in the US Navy.

We discovered clams here quite accidentally.  Once upon a time, when I was in high school and useless in food prep, my job during family picnics was to watch my nieces and nephews (a whole battalion of them) make sandcastles.  OK, not we.  That fateful day, while I was probably trying to be cute for the lifeguard, the little ones made the big discovery that big clams hid beneath 1″ of fine sand.

Breakers Beach, The Daily Palette

Although Muir Beach close to my home is breathtaking, the water is too cold to my liking and the beach, a bit more rocky.

However, in both places, clamming is a fun activity for the young and old alike!  Just make sure you have fishing license and harvesting clams that are of legal size.  For a California Fishing License, you may get it here.

Local Clams, The Daily Palette

From Spain With Love, The Daily Palette

From Spain With Love by way of San Diego and coastal Marin, I bring you “Almejas a la Marinera” adapted from Annie Sibonney’s recipe.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds of clams, scrubbed and cleaned
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup white wine, half for you and the other half for cooking

Directions

  1. After scrubbing the clams, I let them stand overnight in a bucket of salted water to release sand trapped in their shells.  However, experts say it’s not necessary since 30 minutes to 2 hours of soaking also works.
  2. Drain and set aside.
  3. In a wok of skillet, heat olive oil and saute garlic until fragrant, shallots until translucent and tomatoes until cooked to a sauce.  I was too excited to try the dish as the picture shows:  tomatoes are still in bits.
  4. Add the paprika, white wine, clams, and cover to steam the clams until they open.  Discard the clams that did not open.  I did not have any.

Almejas a la Marinera, The Daily Palette

Notes

  1. Watch From Spain With Love on the Cooking Channel.  For times and episodes click here.
  2. Follow @AnnieSibonney on Twitter.

Thank you for stopping by, and come again real soon ;-) !