Grilled Clams "Bobby Flay style"

So as a foodie I have a confession to make, I H A T E fish. There I said it. I do not like the taste of of it, the texture of it and mostly I cannot get past the smell of it ( as it goes bad). I also am very picky when it comes to other seafood as well. I like shrimp, not a big fan of Lobster, enjoy calamari but not anything that comes in a shell like Oysters or Clams. I know it is a little weird but even though I do not like to eat these items I love coking them for my family and friends. The ingredients are so versatile and the possibilities endless. When I cook a fish dish I generally substitute a chicken breast for my portion of the meal. Sometimes I just go without. The thing I like about cooking is the ability to share something that I love doing. A lot of times ( and I am by no means bragging) people will say "so when are you going to open a restaurant?" I enjoy the process of cooking ,if I was in a restaurant it would be a job, I like it being my hobby for now. Who knows, maybe one day it will be but I enjoy doing it on my own terms for now.

One of the things I like to do on weekends is create one special dish that usually I have not done before in addition to whatever else we are cooking. As I have said before I am better at cooking than designing websites so I have a little bit of a back catalog here. This is a dish that I did back in August I believe that I got from Bobby Flay. I know that there is a Bobby Flay Backlash going on now but I like the guy. His recipes are pretty straightforward but also a challenge for the novice chef. Anyway I chose the grilled clams with a  bacon relish. The key to this dish is a hot grill, fresh ingredients (as always) and a nice clean white plate. The original recipe can be found here.

So since this was just going to be an appetizer I started out with just about 2 pounds of littleneck clams. I cooked up some bacon and set it aside. I used a little bit of the leftover bacon grease and about 2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sauteed some minced garlic and diced red bell pepper for about 3-4 minutes. I added about a half of a diced jalapeno for heat and cooked for about 2 minutes more. I added about a 1/4 cup of white wine and simmered down to about half of its original consistency. I added chopped parsley and took it off the heat.

Now comes the easy part. Start up your grill and when the coals are ready or the gas is hot throw the clams on the grill and cover.

The cooking time will vary depending on the size of your clams but they will be done when they are open ( any unopened clams throw away). When taking the clams off the grill be careful as not to spill any of their natural juices or liquor. What I did for this recipe is take a "little bit" of the liquor and combine it with the relish. Put a little a bit of the relish in each clam shell and drizzle the "sauce" over and around the clams and serve.

Enjoy and for just shits and giggles here is a duck with a Mohawk from the duck pond/park across the street from our house.