Stovetop Clambake
Lobsters, clams, mussels, potatoes and corn star in our stovetop clambake. Serve with flavor-packed sauces, like cocktail sauce or tartar sauce, and there won't be a need for the bowls of melted butter that so often turn otherwise virtuous seafood into a nutritional disaster.
From EatingWell: June/July 2006
Yield: 4 servings
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pound small red-skinned potatoes
- 2 whole live lobsters, (about 1 1/2 pounds each)
- 12 cherrystone, steamer or littleneck clams, scrubbed
- 1/2 pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded if necessary (see Tip)
- 4 ears corn, husked and cut into thirds
Preparation
- Place a steamer basket in a large stockpot, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Place potatoes in the basket, cover the pot and steam for 4 minutes. Reduce the heat slightly, if necessary, to prevent boiling over.
- Place lobsters on top of the potatoes; cover and steam for 4 minutes. Place clams and mussels on top of the lobsters and potatoes; cover and continue steaming for 4 minutes more. Place corn on top of the shellfish; cover and continue steaming until the clams have opened and the potatoes are tender, 4 to 8 minutes more.
- Arrange the corn, mussels, clams and potatoes on serving platters. Remove lobster claws and tails by twisting them from the body. Cut the tails lengthwise (see How to Shell a Lobster, below). Discard the bodies. Add the split tails and claws to the platters. Serve immediately. How to Shell a Lobster:
- Grasp claw at the knuckle, near the body. With a firm twist, remove the claw from the body. Repeat with the second claw.
- To remove claw meat, crack through the claw shell using a pair of kitchen shears or a lobster cracker.
- Holding the body in one hand and firmly grasping the tail in the other, twist and gently pull the tail from the body. (Discard the body.)
- Cut the tail in half lengthwise with kitchen shears, starting from the underside. Serve halves in the shell or remove the meat.
- Make Ahead Tip: Equipment: Large stockpot, collapsible metal steamer basket
- Tip: To clean mussels, scrub with a stiff brush under cold running water. Scrape off any barnacles using the shell of another mussel. Pull off the fuzzy “beard” from each one (some mussels may not have a beard).
Nutrition Per serving:
274 calories; 3 g fat (0 g sat, 0 g mono); 56 mg cholesterol; 40 g carbohydrates; 24 g protein; 3 g fiber; 271 mg sodium; 564 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Selenium (57% daily value), Vitamin C (50% dv), Iron (35% dv), Potassium (16% dv).
2 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 2 1/2 starch, 2 1/2 very lean meat