Island Fourth

Happy Fourth everyone!  Yesterday we made the long trip up the island to the clam fields.  Most of the crew was in the back of the truck as I threaded the “road” through the forest avoiding the packs of wild pigs before spilling out over the mud flats.  And when I say mud I mean lose your shoes up to your knees mud.  What a haul and what a mess.  I’ve never dealt with clams in this state before.  After rinsing the mud off I soaked them repeatedly in salted water several times and then set them in the water in the fridge overnight.  I just quickly steamed them and served them with garlic butter.

As if that wasn’t enough the kids were successful with their fishing and crabbing!

The fish were quite small and took a bit of work to gut and scale but with some salt, pepper, corn meal and olive oil they came out quite well!

For the crab I made up a flavorful boil using some local shrimp shells and something as close to Old Bay as I could come with the contents of the spice cabinet plus some fresh thyme.  The crabs were cooked for five – ten minutes (I was juggling) and then I boiled the shrimp in the same liquid.

The table which featured more than a few young ones attacked the food (also had some pasta) and amazingly not much was left and what is left will make a great chowder!