Stuffed Clams, Stuffed Thai Eggplant

Stuffed Clams:

• I used cherrystone clams.
• first, wash any dirt off of the clam shells.
• pour an inch or so of water into a big pot.
• add a bunch of salt.
• put the clams in.
• close the lid and turn the heat on.
• wait until all of the clams open, then turn off the heat and take them out of the water.
• let them cool.
• sauté a small handful of diced onions and a little bit of minced garlic in a little oil.
• when the clams cool, chop them up.  Cherrystone clams are a little on the tough side, although tasty.  So, they need to be cut into fairly small pieces to avoid getting chewy chunks.  (Nobody likes chewy chunks.)
• dump the onion & garlic into a bowl with your clams.
• add a whole bunch of Panko.
• some minced green onion.
• juice from one lemon.
• lemon zest.
• a little minced cilantro.
• some dried parsley.
• a couple handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese.
• salt
• pepper.
• some liquid left over from boiling the clams, enough to make the Panko and everything stick together.
• fill up clam shell halves with the mixture.
• bake them at 375ºF until a little bit of brown color develops on top.

Stuffed Thai Eggplant:

• cut the little eggplants in half.
• use a little spoon to scoop out as much of the insides as possible without destroying the shells.
• sauté some diced onions – more than you would for the clams – and a hefty dose of minced garlic in a little oil.  I used more oil than I might have otherwise so that there was still some to mix with the eggplant after the onions & garlic were done cooking.
• dice the scooped-out eggplant.
• mix it with the freshly sautéed onions & garlic.  And,
• a fair share of Panko.
• salt.
• pepper.
• red pepper flakes.
• plenty of paprika.
• noticeable portions of cilantro.
• a little bit of mint.
• loosely pack the mixture together and stuff it back into the eggplant shells.
• bake them at 375ºF until a little bit of brown color develops on top. (Just like the clams, in my case at the same time.)

Served With: LInguine with pesto and cauliflower.  I’m not going to go into the recipe.  I’ll just say that the pasta noodles were homemade, the pesto was frozen from when I killed off the basil at the end of last summer, and the cauliflower was an attempt to make sure we ate enough vegetables.  Altogether, it was the easiest way to fill out the meal with starch – which as you know, is the base of the food pyramid!!!

Thoughts: Clams = pretty good.  The bivalves themselves were fresh, oceany, and full of flavor.  The stuffing mix let that come through.  Eggplant = good for weeknight, not for a first date.  I was pleased that the eggplant’s own flavor was prominent.  And, the little green Thai eggplants are sort of cute.  My wife ate the skins, I scooped out the filling.  The skins are a little tough and bring a “raw” sort of flavor with them, for better or worse.