Clams Casino Has Every Reason to Be a Great Dish. Now It Is.
Know what casino means in Italian? It means "a big mess." That's
funny, because you know what your average plate of clams casino usually is?
Yeah: It's a mess. Despite being made from ingredients that should be nothing short of spectacular together—clams, bacon, butter, and bread crumbs—most versions of clams casino are a sterling example of how to take a good thing and turn it into a train wreck.
Here's what often goes wrong: First, the clams are topped with fine bread crumbs, which, when dry, have the gritty texture of a mouthful of sand. After they soak up the juices, they have the equally unpleasant texture of either that same sand, now wet, or really soggy bread pulp (or sometimes both, depending on the specific bread crumbs and just how soaked they get). I like clams and sand. Both of them make me think of the beach. But I only like one of them in my mouth.
Second, most recipes take a halfhearted approach, baking shucked clams with butter, seasonings, bacon, and bread crumbs, but missing obvious opportunities to concentrate, meld, and layer flavors. A lot of folks just slap a shard of bacon on top as an afterthought and somehow think they've done a good job.
We can do better—we can clean up this mess. Not only that, we can actually make this dish easier to prepare by eliminating the shucking step and rethinking the recipe so that it can be made ahead, with nothing left to do but toss the clams in the oven right before serving.
Let's start with the bread crumbs. Fine bread crumbs don't do us any favors in a recipe like this. Coarse ones, on the other hand, add a crunchy texture that contrasts well with the soft clams. Japanese panko bread crumbs are a great choice here, but, of course, we don't want to use just plain ones. Instead, take this opportunity to layer flavors by dicing bacon, then cooking it until it's rendered plenty of fat, leaving the bacon bits browned and crisp. Then stir in the bread crumbs, allowing them to soak up the bacon grease while they toast over the heat. Toasted bacon bread crumbs > all other bread crumbs. Moving along.
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