Almejas Rellenas de Loreto

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sturdy clam knife or short paring knife
• •Stiff-bristled brush for scrubbing shells
• •Heavy 10-inch skillet, cast iron or carbon steel
• •Fine-mesh strainer for the clam liquor
• •Sheet pan, ideally lined with a one-inch bed of coarse rock salt to hold the shells level
• •Folded kitchen towel for protecting your hand while opening clams

Instructions

1. 1

   Inspect and clean the clams

   The clams must be alive when you start. Tap any that are open. They should close. If they do not, throw them out. Do not negotiate with a dead clam. Scrub the shells under cold running water with a stiff brush to clear off the sand and grit. Chocolate clams come out of the sandy bottom of the Sea of Cortez and they bring some of it with them.

   If you can, soak the live clams in a bowl of cold salted water for thirty minutes before cleaning. They will spit out the last of the sand on their own. Saltwater, not fresh, or you will kill them.
2. 2

   Open the clams

   Hold a clam in a folded kitchen towel, hinge facing your palm. Slide a sturdy clam knife or short paring knife between the shells along the curved edge opposite the hinge. Twist gently and run the blade along the top shell to release the muscle. Open the clam, leaving the meat in the deeper bottom shell. Discard the empty top shells. Work over a bowl to catch the liquor, this is seawater concentrate and you will use it. Set the half-shells with their meat aside on a sheet pan.

3. 3

   Chop the meat and reserve the shells

   Lift the clam meat out of each half-shell. Pull off and discard the dark stomach sac if it bothers you, the locals usually leave it. Chop the meat coarsely, you want pieces the size of a chickpea, not a paste. Rinse the empty bottom shells and pat them dry. They are your serving vessels and they need to be clean.

4. 4

   Build the relleno base

   Heat a heavy skillet over medium. Add 3 tablespoons of the butter and the olive oil. When the butter foams, add the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook for five minutes until soft and translucent, not browned. Add the garlic and the minced serrano. Cook for one minute more, just until you can smell them. The chile serrano is doing the work here, not the chile guajillo or the ancho. Baja cooks reach for fresh green chiles, not dried.

5. 5

   Cook down the tomato

   Add the diced tomato. Raise the heat slightly. Cook for six to eight minutes, stirring often, until the tomato collapses and most of its water has cooked off. You want a thick base, not a watery sauce. If you skip this reduction, the relleno will weep into the shell and the broiler cannot save it.

   Use real Roma tomatoes in season. If the tomatoes at your market look pale and hard, use canned San Marzano. A bad winter tomato will make a sad relleno.
6. 6

   Add the clam meat

   Add the wine and let it cook off for one minute. Strain a few tablespoons of the reserved clam liquor through a fine sieve to catch sand, and add it to the pan. Stir in the chopped clam meat. Cook for ninety seconds, no more. Clam toughens fast. The moment the edges turn opaque, kill the heat. Stir in the lime juice, cilantro, oregano, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Taste it. The salt comes from the clam liquor as much as from the shaker, so adjust with care.

7. 7

   Stuff the shells

   Set the cleaned half-shells on a sheet pan or on a bed of coarse rock salt to keep them level, the salt holds them upright so the relleno does not spill. Spoon the filling generously into each shell, mounding it slightly above the rim. Do not pack it down. Sprinkle each one with a pinch of the breadcrumbs, then top with a generous handful of the shredded cheese. Dot with the remaining tablespoon of butter divided among the twelve shells.

8. 8

   Broil until blistered

   Position a rack about six inches from the broiler element and turn the broiler to high. Slide the sheet pan under the broiler. Watch them, do not walk away. In four to six minutes the cheese will melt, bubble, and start to brown in spots. You want blistered patches of dark gold across the top, not a pale even melt. Pull them when the cheese hisses and the breadcrumbs have darkened. Asi se hace y punto.

9. 9

   Serve immediately

   Transfer the hot shells to a wide platter or serve them straight off the salt-lined pan. Set lime wedges and a small bowl of Salsa Huichol on the table. Eat them with a small spoon or pull the relleno out with a wedge of warm bolillo. They are at their best in the first ten minutes off the broiler. La cocina no es decoracion, es trabajo, and this dish is paid back the moment a guest cracks one open.

Chef Tips

• •Chocolate clams are the dish. If you find them, you have something special. Look for them at Mexican seafood markets in Southern California, Arizona, or anywhere on the Baja coast. If you cannot find them, large quahogs or sea clams will work as a compromise, but understand you are eating an interpretation, not the real thing. Una sustitucion es un compromiso, no una mejora.
• •Buy your clams from a vendor who stores them on ice in seawater, not freshwater, and who can tell you what day they came off the boat. If the vendor does not know, find a different vendor. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •Queso Chihuahua melts cleaner. Queso Oaxaca pulls into strings. Both are correct. Do not use mozzarella unless you have no other choice, and never use cheddar. This is not a Tex-Mex dish.
• •If you cannot work a broiler well, use a 475F oven for eight to ten minutes instead. The result is less blistered but more forgiving for a cook who does not want to hover. Either way, do not overcook. The clam meat is already cooked. The broiler is only browning the top.

Advance Preparation

• •The relleno (sauteed onion, garlic, chile, tomato, and chopped clam meat) can be made up to four hours ahead and held covered in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before stuffing the shells.
• •Do not stuff the shells more than thirty minutes before broiling, or the breadcrumbs will go soggy and the shells will sweat.
• •Almejas rellenas do not keep. They are a same-day dish. Leftovers turn rubbery and the cheese seizes when reheated. Make only what you will eat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 190g)