Steamed Clams on the Grill – Taylor Shellfish WA

This recipe for Simple Steamed Clams on the grill is perfect for laid back days at the beach!

This simple recipe that is delicious made on the stovetop at home but perfect to enjoy fresh at Taylor Shellfish Farm’s Samish Bay oyster farm on Washington’s scenic Chuckanut Drive.

Taylor Shellfish Farms

The Taylor family has been farming shellfish in the Puget Sound since 1890. With Taylor Shellfish Farms and market stores around Seattle at Queen Anne, Pioneer Square and Capital Hill as well as markets at their farm locations in Shelton and Samish Bay, they are pioneers of the sustainable farm to market movement.  

Their markets serve the freshest manila clams, geoducks, mediterranean mussels, crab and oysters (including shigoku and kumamoto).

You can take them to go or get a bucket, oyster knife and towel to cook up and devour at one of their picnic tables and barbecues.

If you forget to grab any seafood essentials –  briquets, lemons, cocktail sauce, crackers or Tabasco sauce- no worries, they sell those too!

The Samish Bay location is a great spot to pack a picnic basket full of goodies and head out for a beach picnic small family picnic or even host a larger party.  

What better way to celebrate a birthday than with a simple beach picnic, a good bottle of champagne and a cheese plate? This one uses picnic basket essentials to cook up a delicious pan of Simple Steamed Clams on the grill.

Ingredients

• Steamer clams – buy steamer clams, also called littleneck clams, manila clams, or cockles, at your local supermarket if a shellfish market is unavailable. There’s no need to soak steamer clams purchased this way to remove sand, but you will need to if digging your own clams on the beach. Mussels or shrimp can also be substituted in this recipe.
• Butter – or oil
• Garlic – a few cloves
• Lemon – juiced to add brightness to the finished dish
• Tabasco – or other hot sauce
• White wine – any white wine, bubbly white wine, rose, cider, beer, broth or water
• Fresh herbs – basil, parsley or cilantro (optional)
• Crusty loaf of bread – for serving (optional)

Step by step instructions

1. Rinse clams in cold water discarding any that are open and won’t close when tapped.
2. Heat a large cast iron pan over grill over medium hot coals.
3. Melt butter in hot pan.
4. Add smashed garlic cloves and steamer clams and give it a stir or shake to prevent garlic from scorching.
5. Add a splash of wine or beer (or any liquid you have on hand) to deglaze the hot pan and create a burst of steam. Continue cooking until clams open, discarding any that stay closed, 3 – 5 minutes.
6. Top with a few splashes of tabasco hot sauce, a squeeze of lemon and any fresh herbs you have on hand.
7. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and a big loaf of crusty bread to sop up the broth.
8. Enjoy!