Monthly Archives: October 2015

Cooking with Fresh Clams #2

Posted on October 27, 2015 | Leave a comment

Ceylon Curry of Clams with Zucchini and Bell Pepper

I knew before I even left Ohio that I would make a clam curry dish, remembering the delicious Thai red curry I had made this past spring. But I am an avid reader of food articles and blogs and came across a New York Times collection of curry recipes that I had to check out. Included was a recipe for a Ceylon Curry of Oysters. I had to try this (using clams of course) because I have been on a bit of an Indian food kick lately, and of the many NYT recipes I have made, I have yet to make a bad one. Continue reading →

First Visit to Daufuskie

Posted on October 24, 2015 | Leave a comment

Daufuskie Island

Two women, a borrowed boat, and a tank of gas.

Yesterday was a perfectly beautiful (beautifully perfect) October day in the lowcountry- sunny, clear, temps in the high 70’s, and get this NO HUMIDITY. I could not have ordered up a better day if I had tried.

My friend, Joanne, is a fairly newly licensed boat captain and wanted to go practice, so practice she did. spending hours exploring Calabogie Sound and the Cooper River and Ranmshorn Creek on the western side of Daufuskie Island.

In the 15 years we have been coming to Hilton Head, we have never made it to Daufuskie, so we docked at The Freeport Marina for lunch. We landed not long after the ferry from Hilton Head, and these few people seemed to be the only other people milling about. October is evidently a great time to visit if you don’t enjoy crowds of people (me!).

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Cooking with Fresh Clams #1

Posted on October 23, 2015 | 2 comments

Clams alla Puttanesca con “Zoodles”

My first clamming expedition this season netted me 68 nice, big,, fat clams without much effort. I shared some with a friend and still had a bunch. I decided that my first dish would be a salty, spicy Puttanesca, adding clams and subbing zucchini “noodles” for the spaghetti. But if I was going to make Clams alla Puttanesca, I was going to go all out clam and use all the roughly 4+ dozen clams I had left in the one dish.

This ended up being one of the best clam dishes I have ever made. The sauce was bursting with flavor, the zucchini noodles were crisp tender, and there was just a crazy amount of sweet clams. I can’t wait to make this one for the family later this fall. I got three servings from this recipe, but I served it with nothing else, so if you were having bread and a salad you could certainly get more servings.

I used as my starting point this recipe from Epicurious, omitting the pasta, salt,sugar, and basil, while adding more anchovy paste and chili flake. I did not puree the tomatoes as I prefer a chunky texture.

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Gone Clamming

Posted on October 22, 2015 | Leave a comment

730AM low tide at Mitchelville Beach. Good morning, world.

Shellfish season for South Carolina officially opened on October first and yesterday was my first opportunity to go clam digging this season. Clam digging is done a few hours on either side of low tide, so my friend Joanne and I decided to head out at dead low tide, a bright and early (and fantastically beautiful) 730 in the morning. The sun rising over the mud flats is a sight to behold and worth venturing out for, even without the clams.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) maintains state shellfish beds for the commercial and recreational harvesting of clams, mussels, and oysters. The beds for Hilton Head Island can be found in the South Edisto-Savannah River region (click on the map to zoom in). The Mitchelville Beach area is a recreational area and this is where I go (although I won’t divulge my preferred area, sorry). A saltwater fishing license is required to harvest shellfish (and blue crabs), but visitor’s can purchase a 2-week license easily online for only $11.