My buddy dug some beautiful quahogs from the Cape yesterday and gave me a few extras. I have a little vacation time this week, so I took advantage of the weather and fired the mud oven up. These larger clams are better for stuffing, frying or chowdah. I fired up the oven with white cedar and sugar maple. It heated for just over 30 minutes. I was cooking with an active fire, so I did not need a hot oven like pizza temps. The clams were steamed inside until they opened. I chopped them and rinsed them off a little. I heated butter and added onion and garlic. Then went some bread crumbs, salt, pepper, parsley, Old Bay seasoning, parmesan cheese, clams and some of the reserve clam broth to soften the bread crumbs. The stuffing was spooned into the shells with paprika on top. Into one of the Wagner number 8's. Out to the mud oven with a skewered buttered and salted corn cob. It cooked for about 20 minutes and I rotatated the corn and pan every 5 minutes or so. The stuffing was just a little crusty on top and piping hot inside. Lunch on the back porch with a chilled adult beverage contemplating my afternoon project. These were fantastic.
