Clams with Fresh Corn and Heirloom Tomatoes and Happy Endings

Okay, this. This was one of those amazing kick ass plates of food that you make, and then instantly think about who else you can make them for because you feel like showing off.
I've been knocking around the idea of tomatoes, corn and white wine for a while, and I know this isn't a new idea because I've seen other people make variations on the theme. I put this together for a lunch with Myles.

I think I've mentioned Myles before. He's my best friend here in the desert and he's just landed a touring job with the circus. He was on my show, but now he's off to travel the world. He starts in Tel Aviv at the end of next week and he'll be going to Italy and Greece and Germany and pretty much everywhere. He's excited and I'm excited for him. This is his happy ending.

So he was supposed to come over and drop off some stuff. He doesn't need his pantry anymore, so I inherited it. I now have a huge amount of grains that I have no idea what they are because they are unlabeled (one of them is blue). I also have a plethora of alcohol, including two huge full bottles of Blueberry Vodka. I have no idea what I'm going to do with most of it, but it's going to be fun playing around.

I used this exchange of goods as an excuse to make this nice plate of food. It took five stores to find fresh clams, and I was looking for mussels, but it was worth it. Fresh seafood in the desert is not exactly easy to come by.

It's a really amazing lunch, very balanced, quite delicious, and super quick. The broth is absolutely divine and the sweetness from the corn is a great pairing with the acidity of the wine and the tomatoes.

Bon voyage and bon spectacle, Myles. This one's for you.

Clams with Fresh Corn and Heirloom Tomatoes

Pick good quality corn and tomatoes for this dish. They really are the glue that holds the dish together and should be yummy and fresh and delicious. I found little heirloom tomatoes at Trader Joes, so if you have one in your area it's a good place to start. As for wine, I used a very very cheap Pinot Grigio. Go for a wine that isn't too dry.

12 Fresh Littleneck Clams or 18 Fresh Mussels
1 Ear Fresh Corn
1 Cup Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
1 Cup White Wine
1 Shallot, minced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons Fresh Chives, minced
3 Tablespoons Butter
Pepper
1 Loaf Crusty Bread

Soak your clams or mussels in a big bowl or sink of fresh water for thirty minutes. This will get a bunch of the dirt out, though they shouldn't be too dirty.

In a very large wide pan that you either have a lid for, or can invert another pan over, melt a tablespoon of the butter. Add the garlic and shallots and saute over a medium heat until softened, about 5 to 10 minutes. Cut the corn off the ear and add that with the tomatoes, chives, clams or mussels, and the wine. Add a few grinds of pepper and stir around. Bring up to medium heat and cover. When covering, you want to make sure that the clams will have room to open, so you don't want the lid to be tight over them. I used another pan that I placed upside down. It didn't form a perfect seal, but it was enough.

Simmer over a medium heat until all of the clams or mussels have opened. Probably about another ten to fifteen minutes. Pour everything out onto a curved plate or in a shallow bowl so that the clams are swimming in the broth.

Eat with a loaf of fresh bread, tearing it off in chunks to soak up the broth with your best friend while you talk about the awesome adventures they are about to embark on.

Serves 2. 

One Year Ago: Whole Wheat Couscous with Goat Cheese and Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Moroccan Chicken with Golden Raisins

It feels like college was forever ago. There's nothing like realizing you were a freshman ten years ago to make you wonder where on earth your twenties went.

I loved my University. I went to Clayton State University which is a teeny tiny school in Atlanta, Georgia. When I started, they only had 6,000 students. The campus was gorgeous. A little island of beauty in the middle of an iffy county. We had lakes, we had swans, we had awesome professors and over air-conditioned classrooms. We had a little newspaper called The Bent Tree. I loved my school.

I met a lot of great people in college, and I've lost touch with a lot of them. So I was pretty happy when six months or so, Dana started popping up on my radar. She and I weren't super close, but we knew each other.

After college, she went and got a Masters degree, and now she lives and works in Norfolk, Virginia. I don't think I've seen her in at least five or six years. But the neat thing is that she turned into a food blogger too! I started seeing her food pop up on Facebook and started reading her blog. She writes over at Whisks and Words. She is also working on her first novel and I seriously cannot wait to read it.

A couple of weeks ago, she posted a recipe for Moroccan Chicken in a slow cooker. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, so yesterday I made it. It's ridiculously delicious and pretty darn healthy. I ate a bowlful with some quinoa, and then I ended up going back to the slow cooker at least half a dozen times to grab another bite. Because it makes such a big batch, I'm going to get to take this to work a whole bunch this week, which makes me really happy because I'd gotten bored of sweet potatoes. This is one of those wonderful dishes that develops more flavor as it sits.

If you get a chance, take a peek at Dana's blog. She's pretty darn awesome.


Moroccan Chicken with Golden Raisins
Adapted from Dana and Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

One of the things I loved the most about this recipe is that the golden raisins get all plump in the slow cooker, and then when you get them on your spoon you can't necessarily tell if they are raisins or chickpeas. It's like a neat surprise every time!

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
2 Cans Chickpeas
1 15oz Can Diced Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Golden Raisins
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Small Red Onion or 4 Shallots
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons Water
1 1/2 Teaspoons Cumin
1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Paprika
Pinch of Cinnamon
Salt and Pepper
2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter

Grab your crockpot or slow cooker. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add them with the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, cumin, cayenne, paprika, cinnamon and raisins into the crockpot. Dice the bell pepper and onion and add them in. Stir everything up. Then, cut up the chicken thighs into 1 inch pieces. Try and trim away as much fat as you can. Lay the chicken pieces over the other ingredients and grind over some salt and pepper.

Turn the slow cooker on high and put the lid on. Let cook for twenty minutes so the ingredients all come up to temperature. Stir in the chicken. Cook for ten more minutes on high, then turn down to low and cook for four more hours. Turn off the heat and stir in the peanut butter to finish.

Serve over quinoa, rice or couscous, or eat straight from the slow cooker after going to the gym. Try really hard not to splash any of the liquid on your tummy while stirring it, because that will hurt like hell. Three guesses how I know.

Makes about six large servings.