G R E E N B R O T H
I used to live around the corner from Gabrielle Hamilton’s restaurant, Prune in NYC.
That restaurant has stuck with me forever.
Gabrielle’s ‘Soupy Green Rice’ was and is one of my favorite dishes ever. Period.
It hits a lot of sweet spots for me - comfort food, my French Cajun proclivity for seafood broth, and fuck if i don’t love a bunch of herbs and bright flavors that bring it all together.
I think about that dish all the time and try to translate its ethos to as much of my cooking as possible.
This is definitely one of those moments minus the rice. I need to redo this with the rice.
COCKLES IN HERBY GREEN BROTH
serves 4
3 lbs cockles or clams scrubbed, cleaned, and purged
1 shallot sliced
3 cloves garlic sliced
4 tbsp butter
1 cup white wine
1/3 cup water
Good toasted crusty bread brushed with olive oil
GREEN SAUCE
1 fistful dill
1 fistful parsley
1 fistful cilantro
1 green onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
A healthy of olive oil
4-6 ice cubes (this helps keep everything green and adds liquid)
2 pinches salt
1 serrano pepper
Puree in a food processor until smooth and set aside
clean the cockles - give the shells a good scrub and discard any that are cracked or open.
submerge clams in a bowl of cool water for about 20 minutes. they’ll spit out any sand or whatever else they may be hiding.
in a heavy bottom pot or dutch oven heat a glug of olive oil over medium heat.
add the sliced shallot and garlic making sure that the garlic doesn’t burn and becomes aromatic.
add the white wine, water, and butter bringing to a simmer for about 2 minutes.
Add your green sauce and give it a stir before quickly adding the cockles. Cover for about 5 minutes or until the clams have all fully opened.
While the cockles are steaming slather some good crusty bread with olive oil and toast.
Serve in a large bowl with lots of broth.
Finish with the toast to soak up all the juices.