Olde Salt clam and Rappahannock River oyster
Cooking contest number two in the Charleston Wine + Food Festival Lambs + Clams Contest (see the first contest post for details) was presented to me in a big cooler filled with ice packs—and Rappahannock River Oysters and Olde Salt Clams. Two dozen of each to be precise. I knew what I was making before the box even arrived. After quickly shucking two oysters and two clams raw for a “taste test” I got to work on making the two best dishes I know using oysters and clams from two of my homes, one spiritual and one physical.
New Orleans is the spiritual home and I LOVE baked oysters. Sure they grill them nice up north, but nothing like mixing up a dressing and going to town. My physical home is Rhode Island and while there are a lot of great R.I. uses for clams, nothing beats a good bowl of chowder loaded up with chopped clams. I like to think I’ve perfected the perfect chowder recipe over the years, though I know them’s fighting words so I’ll leave it to you to try.
The two recipes are below followed by a whole bunch more photos. I had too much fun “posing” and photographing these beautiful shells. Please visit the BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival Facebook page, click on the “Vote” tab and vote for me. Thank you.
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Clams after steaming open
Chopping locally produced chorizo from Daniele, Inc.
Oysters prepped for a layer of dressing
Oysters under a layer of dressing, ready for the oven
Olde Salt clam shell
Rappahannock River oyster shell
Olde Salt clam
Rappahannock River oyster
Also check out the other seven sites in the contest:
- Lynda Balslev’s Taste Food Blog
- Peter Barrett’s A Cook Blog
- Olga Berman’s Mango Tomato
- Gwen Pratesi’s Bunkycooks
- Heather Scholten’s Farmgirl Gourmet
- Cecilia Stoute’s One Vanilla Bean
- Vivek Surti’s Vivek’s Epicurean Adventures
