"Cleveland Style" Clambake

Name: "Cleveland Style" Clambake
Prep time: P0Y0M0DT0H10M0.000S
Cook time: P0Y0M0DT0H25M0.000S
Total time: P0Y0M0DT0H35M0.000S
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 1 pound smoked kielbasa, sliced in 1/2-inch disks; 2 ears of corn, each cut into 4 pieces; 3 1/2 pounds littleneck clams, scrubbed clean; 1 pound shell-on medium (16- to 20-count) shrimp, deveined; 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted; 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted; 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes; 1 tablespoon kosher salt; Freshly ground black pepper; 2 Fresno chiles, sliced into rings; 1 bay leaf; 1 head of garlic, halved; 1 lemon, quartered; 1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped; One 750-millileter bottle dry white wine; 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, optional

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A little known fact: Cleveland is the clambake capital of the country. I don't know why this is, but my fish purveyors tell me that from August through September they sell more clams to Cleveland than to any other city in the country. My interpretation of the clambake is not traditional; it's done more in the style of a crab boil, with sausage, corn, clams and shrimp all layered in a pot and cooked together. To serve this, I dump the whole pot out onto a table lined with newspaper or a plastic tablecloth. You can put it in a big serving bowl, but the effect of dumping it out onto a table is stunning. I learned the service trick from Susie Heller, former Clevelander and a coauthor on numerous wonderful books, and I prepared this clambake on Dinner Impossible; we made six huge vats to serve four hundred people. But it's a no-brainer, and it's one of the best, most dramatic one-pot family meals there is.

Level: Easy
Total: 35 min

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 25 min

Yield: 8 servings

Level: Easy
Total: 35 min

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 25 min

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

1 pound smoked kielbasa, sliced in 1/2-inch disks

2 ears of corn, each cut into 4 pieces

3 1/2 pounds littleneck clams, scrubbed clean

1 pound shell-on medium (16- to 20-count) shrimp, deveined

2 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted

1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 Fresno chiles, sliced into rings

1 bay leaf

1 head of garlic, halved

1 lemon, quartered

1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped

One 750-millileter bottle dry white wine

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, optional

Directions

Watch how to make this recipe.

In a large pot with a lid, add the food in layers--the kielbasa first, followed by the corn, clams and shrimp. Distribute the coriander, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, chiles, bay leaf, garlic, lemon and onions over the top. Pour in the wine, cover and cook over high heat until the clams open, 20 to 25 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf and any clams that do not open. Strain the clambake and sprinkle with cilantro if using. Serve.