I know this will sound weird and maybe disgusting to some, but hell who cares...

We went fishing to Sebatian Inlet last weekend and, as usual, we loaded with different baits, including some beautiful really fresh clams and good size live shrimps from Whitey's B&T.
Well, the trip was still fun, but most of the catches were on lures, spoons and live mullets we directly netted at the jetty. Nothing touched our bottom and chicken rigs baited with shrimps, clams and fleas (other than a bonnethead, some regular catfish and a HUGE gaffsail), freelined and trollrited live shrimps didn't produce as well...so, bottom line, at the end of the day I still had 7 huge clams and 3-4 dozen of live shrimps.
Well, I could have frozen them and use for the next trips, but instead I did something way better.

First of all you need to be 100% sure that your shellfish and crustaceans are as fresh as they can be (even better if still alive) and to find it out there's only one way in my book, smell them and as soon as you feel a bad smell just throw'em out, no discussion (shellfish in particular can develop toxins very easily)

Ingredients (for 1-2 persons)
- 5-6 big clams
- 3-4 dozen shrimps
- olive oil
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 10-12 cherry tomatoes
- FRESH italian parsley (the one with flat leaves, not the curly one some uses as decoration, it has no flavor at all...)
- crushed red pepper, salt & black pepper




Put the clams in a pan with nothing in it (no oil, no water, no nothing...) to medium heat, the clams will open themselves in 7-8 minutes and will take out their own juice from inside, save the juice (you'll need it later to strain the sauce) and keep the clams apart




in another pan put some olive oil, minced garlic, diced cherry tomatoes, some crushed red peppers and parsley (salt&pepper at your pleasure), medium heat until the oil drizzles and the garlic turns golden, toss the shrimps (once cleaned, just take off the head and the vein, DO NOT PEEL THEM) and let'em cook until they completely turn orange-reddish color, add the clams, some of the clams juice and a lil bit of white wine and make the sauce strain




boil a pot of water, add spaghetti or linguine and cook for 7-8 minutes (I like them perfectly "al dente"), drain spaghetti and toss them in the sauce pan, stir for 2-3 minutes and add some more fresh parsley, you're setup and ready to go!
Pair it with some chilled white wine (I like the one in the picture, Napa Valley Fume' Blanc)


here's final result


then come back and tell me again "oh...I don't eat bait..."

Damn, Ricky!!! We got to get more of you guys showing us different styles of cooking again! Off the chart!!!

just last ngiht on the way home my gf was asking about why cant we eat bait. i explained the quality of frozen bait to store bought etc....THIS IS AWESOME... I was talking bout cherry tomatoes for our one snapper we grilled last night:) GJ man

Food looks good Ricky. Looks like the wine was good too.
Gonna try to make some sangria tomorrow. Can you suggest a wine to use?

Red wine for sure, if you like it strong go with a Cabernet or Merlot, if you like it milder go with a Pinot Noir or an Italian Chianti, put LOTS of fruit in it (I like apples, peaches, oranges, cantaloupe and mangos) and (if you like it) some White Rum or Cognac (it will enhance the flavor and give you even more booze )

I eat bait, no problem!!

I would add 2 tsp of Crystal LA hot sauce. A little like tabasco but more flavor and not as hot. It tends to add spice to food with out giving your lips a pulse,

got it, thanks

Ricky Ricky

What can I say

You da man

That looks very delicious and the clams as well as the shrimp were totally OK. Especially the clams.

Awesome Ricky

BTW: For a good Sangria "as I was still drinking" I liked to use a Chianti and for the pep to it Mariacron cognac.

A little sugar and let it set. Thata knock you off your shoes when you go for the fruits. We used to set it up 48 hours before drinking. Uffff

doesnt hannibal lecter like chianti with his human brain??

I'm not much for clams, but that sure does look tasty.

+1, Looks fantastic! Bait....who knew?

Coming up next week...silverside raviolis with a goggle eye reduction

once at anglins I caught tons of glass minnows hitting the small sabiki, it was one of the best fish fry I ever had, those things melt in your mouth when deepfried!!!!!

You should have tried the gaffsail. I suggest being very careful with the clams you get for bait esp. since the ones at baithouses tend to not be the freshest at times. Shellfish that goes bad which clams do really quickly if not kept cold or old will send you to the E.R.

Great Post Ricky
The dinner looks great.

I would like to try that. Lets make a batch!

Ron I have never had that cognac you are talking about. How does it rate to Hennessey? You have peaked my interest.




with a hint of king belly that accompany sand flea flavors.

Rus, if you like Hennessy you'll love this one too even more (actually I like Armagnac lil more than Cognac, thought they're kinda similar)


the Mariacron Ron's talkin' about is some good stuff from Germany, even they're not allowed to call it Cognac overhtere (only in France )

cognac's great to cook crustaceans too flambe' style (scampi, shrimps, lobster)

ok...what about a sangria party comin' up soon?

Ricky, you need a bigger place. Your rods are everywhere.

Russ like Ricky said it is some German stuff. I do not drink anymore so writing bout this is actually somewhat strange but here goes

That Mariacron goes down super smooth. Very mellow in its taste but is one of those kinds where you drink and drink and think you are good until you get up from the bar stool.

All the sudden the legs wont do what you want them to do

Another good one is "ASBACH URALT"
Stuff is old meaning non under 12 years but not so smooth. Kicks @ss tho.


Chris
The Clams were very fresh - they actually had just come in.

that's my "lazy mood" fishing gear temporary storage (how temporary it depends on...)

GOOD LOOKING EATS!!!!!!!!! guilty- ive eatten hand picked snook shrimp befor,it wont be the last either

don't feel guilty...if snooks don't want them, I'll take'em!

I understand what you mean. I do the same thing after a long Tortugas trip.

I thought that the Armagnac was good but a little sharper than the Hennessey. To me the Hennessey is the smoothest compared to most cognacs sold here.

I never did like the taste of Hennessey...I'm more of a rum kind of guy... Flor de Cana & any Rican kind of rum is up my alley.

I'm not a cognac fan either, give me a glass of Appleton's with a splash of coke and a lime, I'm good to go.

You guys like rum you gotta try
Stroh 80 one day

It is used for drinking cooking in cakes and whatnot.

OH and it tastes really good but be aware that stuff will roll up your toe nails if you sip it pure.

160 proof

edit forgot the link


http://www.internetwines.com/struhrum160p.html

one day I was surf fishing and had brought my cast net with me, there was a massive school of nice sized pilchards by the shore that were there the whole day, I threw my net only a few times and had so many that at the end of the day I had so much even after freezing a third of them for later fishing. I took a suggestion from my grandpa about frying them like he did back in Cuba, so I pulled the heads off the pilchards and the guts came out with them, leaving a headless gutless body still with scales, i prepared about 100 of those suckers and deep fried them. they came out delicious and crispy!! we ate them whole even with the scales and bones since deep frying them kind of dissolved the bones and scales, just sprinkle with some lemon and pepper

Looks great Rick, as all your meals do but the only reason it'd be hard to eat for me is due to not wanting to kill my "fishing beer buzz" I would have maintained from the trip

Jay