PAN ROASTED RAZOR CLAMS

I WASN'T SURE that these would turn out well but they certainly did exceed my wildest expectations. I culled several cookbooks for a good recipe and found one in Michael White's Classico e Moderno Italian cookbook that piqued my interest. His recipe called for soppressata salami, corn and red chiles. Well, I didn't have corn or soppressata in the house, nor did I have any white wine but I had a lot of court bouillon from the tuna I preserved and I had a big chunk of duck prosciutto from the green market that was earmarked for a dish with sauerkraut but never made. A little improvising along the way and this is what I came up with. The flavors in this dish were so complex and mind-boggling that I will definitely make this again and again. This will make a wonderful appetizer for 4-6 people or you can serve them as an entrée for 2 or 3 people.

Pan Roasted Razor Clams

Scrub the razor clams under cold water (I use an old tooth brush which is the perfect size for this) and set aside.

To begin, you will need the following ingredients:

3 tbs. olive oil (enough to coat a large pan - see photograph)

4 tbs. duck prosciutto cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 shallot

3 tsp. freshly grated ginger

5 cloves of garlic smashed and minced

3 tbs. chopped scallions (green part only)

1 tsp. fennel seeds (pulverized)

3 tsp. fresh thyme

1 tsp. minced Jalapeño

1 dried Havañero chile (left whole)

3 tsp. sherry vinegar

1 cup fish broth

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Heat the oil just until it looks like it's going to smoke. Add the prosciutto and saute for about a minute, allowing some of the skin to render its fat. Add all other ingredients except the vinegar, tomatoes and the stock and sauté for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Add the vinegar and let reduce to a bear teaspoon. Add the fish stock and bring to the boil. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat and cover the pan. Let cook for about 10 minutes.

Add the razor clams, cover the pan again and cook for about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Add the parsley and serve immediately.

Serve in large bowls. If you're like me, and can't have bread, you can eat it like soup, but if you can eat bread, soak up the bread with the broth.