Chocolate Clams and Salsa

Submitted by Chuck Hughes

"Recipe courtesy Chuck Hughes"

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 21
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• Dressing

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Ground Flag Salsa

• 4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 serrano chili, seeded and diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 lime, zest and juice of
• 1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 touch olive oil
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Refried Beans (Frijoles Refritos)

• 1⁄4 cup lard (pork fat)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 chipotle pepper, seeded and diced
• about 3 cups cooked black beans
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds/ 1 kg mexican chocolate clams (in shells)
• lime wedge, to garnish

directions

1. For the dressing:

2. Put the mayonnaise, mustard, cilantro, onions and jalapeno in the recipient of a blender and pulse until creamy. Season with salt and pepper.

3. For the salsa:

4. In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, chile, onions, lime zest and juice, cilantro and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. If you like things spicier, put everything through a meat grinder, or a blender, and grind it up. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

5. For the refried beans:

6. Heat the lard in a heavy frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and chipotle pepper and continue sauteing for 1 minute.
7. Add a ladle of cooked beans and, using a masher, start mashing the beans. Once the first spoonful of beans has been mashed completely, keep adding more beans and repeating the process. The unique taste of refried beans occurs as a result of slowly frying the starches inside the beans in the lard, so you want to add the beans a little bit at a time, to make sure they all get good and fried.
8. Once all the beans have been mashed, add a little bean liquid or water, until you get the texture that you want. Keep it a bit looser than you eventually want, as they will continue to firm up as they cool off the heat. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

9. For the clams:

10. Scrub them under cool running water. Discard any gaping clams that don't close when cleaned.
11. Set the clams on a BBQ grill over a solid bed of hot coals or over high heat on a gas grill. Close the lid on the gas grill. Cook the clams until they pop open, 6 to 8 minutes.
12. Serve with a spoonful of the dressing, the salsa and refried beans. Garnish with lime wedges.

13. Cook's Note:

14. The Mexican chocolate clam, so-called for its brown-colored shell, is the largest West Coast bivalve. Reaching up to 6 inches across, the clams are very popular all along the coast of Central America. If Mexican chocolate clams are unavailable at your local store, you can use any other high-quality clams (still in their shells).