Grilled Clams with Garlic Butter from ‘Feeding the Fire’

Photograph by William Hereford

Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week is Feeding the Fire: Recipes & Strategies for Better Barbecue & Grilling by Joe Carroll

Grilled Clams with Garlic Butter 
Makes 4 appetizer servings

I think I grilled my first clams in grade school. Even back then, my Italian friends and I liked to cook in our families’ backyards. Our refrigerators were usually stocked with clams or mussels (which work equally well in this recipe), and we were too lazy to run back and forth to the kitchen to cook the shellfish while grilling our burgers and sausages, so we’d just throw the shells on the grill. What’s magical about this technique is the smoky flavor the clam liquor picks up from the burning charcoal. You can turn these clams into a main course by serving them with linguine tossed with red pepper flakes, olive oil, and fresh herbs. 

2 pounds littleneck clams or cockles (about 2 dozen), scrubbed 
3 tablespoons melted Garlic Butter (see recipe below) 
¼ cup chopped parsley 
Freshly ground black pepper 
Lemon wedges, for serving 
Crusty bread, for serving

Prepare a hot single-level fire in a grill (see note below).

Place the clams directly on the grill grates. After 3 to 5 minutes, the clams will begin to open: as they open, using tongs, transfer them to a bowl, being careful not to spill any of their delicious juices. Discard any clams that don’t open after 8 minutes.

Drizzle the clams with the warm garlic butter, sprinkle with the parsley, and season with pepper. Serve with lemon wedges and crusty bread.

Garlic Butter
Makes about 1 cup

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the garlic and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes; the butter should simmer gently but not brown. Remove from the heat.

Skim the foam from the top of the butter and slowly pour the butter through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Discard the milky solids and garlic. The butter can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks.

NOTE: For single-level fire, start charcoal and let burn until coals are glowing red and coated in gray ash, about 15 minutes. Spread an even layer of charcoal, about one or two coals deep, over the bottom of the grill.

Reprinted with permission from Feeding the Fire: Recipes and Strategies for Better Barbecue and Grilling by Joe Carroll and Nick Fauchald (Artisan Books).

More seafood recipes for the grill:

Grilled (or Broiled) Oysters with a Sriracha Lime Butter

Grilled Lobster with Cilantro-Chile Butter

Grilled Shrimp Salad