Clams, mussels and oysters offer the lazy summer cook an advantage: theyre enclosed in perfectly sealed pots, Mother Natures very own pressure cooker. With a bit of passion from the grill, shellfish literally steam themselves and then pop open, ready for consumption, with almost no effort required on the break of the griller.
Ive been eating grilled shellfish for days and I occasionally make the unorthodox (for me) step of helping them with a barbeque sauce rather than my old standby of lemon juice and sometimes salt. This sauce, which barely qualifies as a recipe, can be made on the grill while the shellfish cook. Also, it can commonly be pulled together without a travel to the grocery store, since all it contains is half a lodge of butter, a few chopped garlic cloves, some Worcestershire sauce and as much fresh lemon juice as you like. I do it in a small, old cast iron saucepan, perfect for outside use. (Dont use anything with a wooden or plastic handle, obviously, since its going right over the flame.)
To serve, just drizzle a bit of sauce into each case and dig in. The buttery sauce combines with the mollusks natural brine to make a liquid thats pretty heavenly. Not bad for a grilled dish that doesnt even take a spatula.
Yield 4 to 6 servings
Time About 15 minutes
Mark Bittman
- 30 to 40clams or mussels or 24 oysters, well scrubbed
- 4 tablespoons(1/2 stick) butter
- 1tablespoonminced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoonWorcestershire sauce, or more to taste
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste.