Ingredients
- 1 (750-milliliter) bottle white wine or light beer
- 2 pounds small potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold and red
- 3 fresh lobsters (about 1¼ pounds each)
- 4 ears fresh corn, halved or quartered
- 2 ribs celery, sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 2 pounds smoked sausage (such as chorizo and kielbasa), sliced
- 2 pounds littleneck clams (or any small steamer clam), scrubbed well
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 1 orange, quartered
- 10 whole cloves garlic
- 5 big sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 1 pound shell-on shrimp
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chef notes
Enjoy all the tastes, textures and summery smells of a beach-side clam bake at home. Cooking everything together in one pot and ensures that all the ingredients get fully infused with flavor.
Technique tips: Try to use a large pot that measures to about 12 quarts. For this recipe, I used a 3-piece multi-cooker steamer pot.
When picking your fresh clams and mussels, make sure they're closed before cooking. If they're open, tap the top of the shell to see if it closes. If it doesn't, discard it!
To help clean your clams and mussels, submerge them in a bowl of cold water mixed with about 1/3 cup of flour and let them soak for about 30 minutes before draining them. This will help extract the excess sand.
Preparation
1.Place your steamer pot on your burner. Add in the white wine and about 2 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.
2.Once the liquid comes to a boil, put the large steamer basket in your steamer pot and carefully add in your small potatoes. Put the lid back on the pot again and let the potatoes cook for about 7 minutes.
3.Next, in go your lobsters. Carefully arrange them on top of the potatoes. Cover the pot again and let them cook together for 10 minutes.
4.After the 10 minutes are up, strategically place the corn to fit around the lobsters. Put the lid back on the pot and cook for another 5 minutes.
5.Next, add your celery, onion slices and chopped sausages. Put the lid back on and cook for another 5 minutes.
6.Next, add in your steamer clams, quartered lemon and orange, garlic cloves and sprigs of thyme. Arrange everything to fit as best as possible. Cover the pot again and let it all cook together for 10 more minutes.
7.Finally, after those 10 minutes, add in your mussels and shrimp. Cover the pot one more time, and let it all cook together for about 5 minutes, or until the mussels and clams open (discard any that do not open) and the shrimp is pink and cooked. Turn off the heat.
8.Time to serve! Use your slotted spoon, ladle and tongs to transfer everything out of the steamer and onto platters or spread out onto a paper-lined lined table. Season clambake with a few pinches of kosher salt and black pepper, and serve with side sauces or melted butter, as preferred. Feel free to ladle some of the steaming broth from the pot and pour over the top of your platters or into small bowls. Serve, eat and enjoy!
