Horse Clam Recipes

After Clam Diggin what's better than eatin em. Now with Horse Clams or Gooey Ducks ya can't just clean em and fry em... if ya do they have the texture of a leather boot... ack!! So below are two recipes originally designed for gooey ducks however horse clams will work just as well and a heck of a lot cheaper!

Horse Clam Fritters

2 cups flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt (or to taste)
3 eggs, beaten
1 T. dry white wine or sherry
½ to 1 cup milk (see instructions)
Meat from 3 -4 good-sized Horse Clams, finely minced or ground; save and reserve juices

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Combine the eggs, wine, clam meat and any clam juices; add to the flour mixture, stirring until combined. Add milk as necessary to make a thick but not gluey batter, mixing well.

Drop by heaping teaspoons into hot, deep fat (375 degrees) and cook, turning carefully as necessary until entire fritter is a deep golden brown. Lift out with a slotted spoon (or frying basket), drain briefly on paper towels and serve immediately, with tartar sauce, chili sauce or sour cream for dipping.

Note: If you just can't handle deep frying the fritters, preheat a skillet or griddle, spray liberally with vegetable spray, and cook fritters until golden, turning carefully to do all sides.

A delicious dish for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner is this geoduck hash, which you could make with canned clams, I suppose, but nothing ever tastes quite like geoduck.

NORTHWEST HORSE CLAM HASH

1 cup sour cream
¼ cup Dijon mustard
½ t. horseradish (creamy style or not, your preference)
½ t. each salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ t. grated lemon zest
1 ½ T. chopped fresh thyme, or 1 t. dried thyme
1 ½ cups coarsely ground Horse clam meat
1 cup sliced green onions, including some of the green
1/2 cup mixed chopped bell peppers (red, yellow, green, or all of one kind if that’s all you have on hand)
3 cups peeled, coarsely grated russet potatoes
3-4 T. olive oil
Slivered green onion, minced cilantro and lemon wedges, for garnish

In a large bowl, combine sour cream, mustard, horseradish, salt and pepper, lemon zest and thyme; mix until evenly combined. Add clams, green onions, bell pepper and potatoes. Stir mixture until all ingredients are lightly coated with the sour cream mixture.

Add the olive oil to a heated, large nonstick skillet. Add the hash to the pan, cover and cook over med. heat for 7-10 min, or until hash begins to brown on the bottom. Turn it over (if you're not adept with a wide spatula, put a plate over pan, invert pan and drop hash cake onto plate, then slide back into pan). Cook, uncovered, on the second side until browned on the bottom, 5-7 min. Turn hash out onto serving platter, garnish with minced cilantro and slivers of onion and put lemon wedges around edge.



Recipes by South Whidbey Record Columnist Margaret Walton