Pacific Northwest Microwbrew Steamers With Bread

Chef PotPie's Note:

This has amazed our guests for years, but is so easy it leaves me time to enjoy their company! And sometimes hubby and I just have it together with a very oaky Chardonnay. The use of unsalted butter is imperative for this recipe, else it is way too salty! This serves 4 for a pretty filling appetizer or 2 for a meal with a salad. You can use clams instead of mussels if you wish. There will be plenty of broth to soak up with a nice crusty bread.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 12 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots (or sweet onion)
• ½ teaspoon dried tarragon or 1 ½ teaspoons fresh tarragon
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme or 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ½ cup chopped fresh chives
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle northwest amber ale
• 2 lbs fresh mussels (debearded)

Directions:

1. In a large non-reactive pot with lid, melt butter.
2. Add garlic, pepper, shallots, tarragon, thyme, parsley, chives and beer.
3. Heat just to a simmer and stir in mussels or clams.
4. Cover and steam 4-7 minutes till shells have opened.
5. Discard any that have not opened.
6. Put clams in individual bowls and ladle broth over.
7. Serve with crusty bread for sopping.

Reviews

[HeidiSue]

The best steamers ever! I did make some changes. We were planning on making them with wine before I searched for the recipe to use, so I used wine and broth for the beer. I halved the recipe, so used 1/4 cup of white wine and 1/4 cup of broth. I didn't have fresh herbs, so used 1/2 tsp of herb de province for the tarragon and thyme (I'm not a huge fan of tarragon anyway). I added 1 tsp of dried parsley too. Didn't have chives, so just omitted. Even with all the changes we thought these were incredible with fresh french bread to dip... yum! Thanks for posting!!!!

[Susang]

I made this for Father's Day 2008 along with Teriyaki Salmon Skewers #266385. The only thing I changed was I added some chopped celery cause we like that in our steamers. I used all fresh herbs in it. These were delectable. We have been steamers fans for years! Thanks for a great recipe, I'll be making this again!

[vacationgal]

Ok, I have never made clams and the BF told me they were better then the clams he has had at a very nice restaurant we frequent. I did use all fresh herbs and it was worth the expense. I also used “salted� butter (that’s all I had) and it was GREAT! (But we do like salt.) Thanks for the great recipe Chef Potpie! This is going into my top-notch section!