I'm a big fan of clam sauces, both red and white. If you're not familiar with clam sauce, it's a sauce that's either butter/cream based or tomato based with clams and is served over pasta. It's a pretty common item in the Northeast and almost any Italian restaurant serves their version of it. Like a lot of sauces, everyone makes a variation to suit themselves or their customers. I've had great clam sauce and I've had very mediocre clam sauce in restaurants that otherwise have good food. I've made several variations of it over the years and I think I've honed my recipe down to an acceptable product that I served for dinner tonight with fettuccine.
Ingredients:
3 ea. Cape May Chopped Clams, 6.5 oz. can, drained but reserve liquid (from Dollar Tree!)
1 ea. Hunt's Diced Tomatoes, 14.5 oz. can, drained
1 stick Butter, salted or margarine
1 tsp. olive oil
3-4 ea. garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup dry Sherry or Chinese rice Wine
1 tsp. sweet basil, dried
1/4 tsp. oregano, dried
1/2 tsp. Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper, fresh ground if possible
Method:
In a sauce pan or non-stick skillet, gently melt butter or margarine and then add the garlic. Simmer for about five minutes or so until the garlic starts to get clear. Then add the diced tomatoes, sweet basil, oregano, Tony Chachere's, salt, black pepper and all of the reserved clam juice you saved from when you drained the clams. Simmer for about fifteen minutes, stirring often. Then add the rice wine and the olive oil and simmer an additional two to three minutes. Next add all of the clams to the sauce, stirring in well. Let simmer for about five minutes as you're only heating the already cooked clams and then serve over freshly prepared pasta. Enjoy!
Notes: I decided to try the Cape May clams this time after noticing they were made in the USA. I'm afraid to use most canned clams as they are almost always from Southeast Asia and who knows what kind of water conditions they were harvested from. Cape May's are also cheaper than many of the canned clams you'll find in the grocery. I'm sure if you live in an area where live, fresh clams are available, they would be very superior to the canned varieties. I also always use Hunt's Diced Tomatoes as they are about the best you can buy and were the favorite among several major brands recently tested by a well-respected food testing institute.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Restaurant Review: Huck Finn's
Huck Finn's Catfish, Chicken & Steaks
3330 Parkway
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
Phone: 865-429-3353
http://www.huckfinnsrestaurant.com/
We had a delightful dinner at this rustic-looking restaurant over the weekend. It's interior looks straight out of a old farmhouse rather than a Cracker Barrel. Seating is at tables with gingham tablecloths and straight back chairs that were reasonably comfortable.
Our server was a 'mature' lady who was very cordial and accommodating and explained their dining process. The food is brought out in a family-style sort of way (think Farmer's Daughter or Shirley's). The first bring you out bowls of white beans, tasty coleslaw, real hushpuppies, dill pickles with sweet onions and your choice of skin-on mashed potatoes & gravy or fries. One thing I must warn you about is not to overindulge in the 'Vittles' as they call these offerings before your fish or chicken comes out or you'll not have room for them! I'm sure the restaurant brings out these temptations first so that you won't have too many second or third helpings of the fish and chicken.
They specialize in all you can eat dinners of fried catfish, fried chicken or a combo of both. Individual dinners are available with quite a choice of other items including clams, shrimp, steaks, trout, even gator tail and frog legs. I'm sure most people opt for the catfish and/or chicken as an all you can eat dinner is only about $2 more. Prices aren't too bad considering the quality of their food which is quite good. Their all you can eat catfish, chicken or combo dinners are $14.95.
The catfish is boneless, grain-fed fillets rolled in a seasoned meal mixture that they bring in from Superior Fish of Macon, MS. If you like catfish, they are really good. I must say also that their fried chicken is some the best I've eaten anywhere. They use fresh chicken that's been deep fried and is amazingly moist even on the breasts and our server assured us that it's not pressure fried.
Our daughter ordered the Shrimp Calabash ($10.95), which was a half-pound serving and were quite tasty. The rest of our party ordered the catfish/chicken combos. A second helping of the catfish and chicken was all I could handle without being miserable. All of us came away with the feeling that we made a great food discovery in Pigeon Forge. My daughter and her boyfriend had eaten a few months ago at a newer similar establishment in PF called Bullfish Grill and came away very disappointed over the food quality, high prices and poor service. They said there was no comparison to Huck Finn's as it was superior in every way.
Take this from me as I'm picky about food: give Huck Finn's a try. With so many dismal restaurants in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area along with the usual chain restaurants, why would you go out of town to eat at the same places you could eat at home or pay resort prices for bad food? That's something we try to avoid whenever possible.
3330 Parkway
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
Phone: 865-429-3353
http://www.huckfinnsrestaurant.com/
We had a delightful dinner at this rustic-looking restaurant over the weekend. It's interior looks straight out of a old farmhouse rather than a Cracker Barrel. Seating is at tables with gingham tablecloths and straight back chairs that were reasonably comfortable.
Our server was a 'mature' lady who was very cordial and accommodating and explained their dining process. The food is brought out in a family-style sort of way (think Farmer's Daughter or Shirley's). The first bring you out bowls of white beans, tasty coleslaw, real hushpuppies, dill pickles with sweet onions and your choice of skin-on mashed potatoes & gravy or fries. One thing I must warn you about is not to overindulge in the 'Vittles' as they call these offerings before your fish or chicken comes out or you'll not have room for them! I'm sure the restaurant brings out these temptations first so that you won't have too many second or third helpings of the fish and chicken.
They specialize in all you can eat dinners of fried catfish, fried chicken or a combo of both. Individual dinners are available with quite a choice of other items including clams, shrimp, steaks, trout, even gator tail and frog legs. I'm sure most people opt for the catfish and/or chicken as an all you can eat dinner is only about $2 more. Prices aren't too bad considering the quality of their food which is quite good. Their all you can eat catfish, chicken or combo dinners are $14.95.
The catfish is boneless, grain-fed fillets rolled in a seasoned meal mixture that they bring in from Superior Fish of Macon, MS. If you like catfish, they are really good. I must say also that their fried chicken is some the best I've eaten anywhere. They use fresh chicken that's been deep fried and is amazingly moist even on the breasts and our server assured us that it's not pressure fried.
Our daughter ordered the Shrimp Calabash ($10.95), which was a half-pound serving and were quite tasty. The rest of our party ordered the catfish/chicken combos. A second helping of the catfish and chicken was all I could handle without being miserable. All of us came away with the feeling that we made a great food discovery in Pigeon Forge. My daughter and her boyfriend had eaten a few months ago at a newer similar establishment in PF called Bullfish Grill and came away very disappointed over the food quality, high prices and poor service. They said there was no comparison to Huck Finn's as it was superior in every way.
Take this from me as I'm picky about food: give Huck Finn's a try. With so many dismal restaurants in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area along with the usual chain restaurants, why would you go out of town to eat at the same places you could eat at home or pay resort prices for bad food? That's something we try to avoid whenever possible.
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