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The complete Fourth of July Clam Fest

Written by Julia Hayes

Friday, 27 April 2007

There's nothing like a beach party in the middle of the summer. Fourth of July is a great excuse to watch the fireworks by the beach and having a party and enjoying the cool evening sea breeze. Here's a complete list of recipes that cover your whole evening meal. The best is to start with a fourth of July clam chowder as an appetizer and have baked clams for the main dish and watermelons for dessert. How does that sound? For your fourth of July clam chowder you'll need the following ingredients:

2 cans clams, drained
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 tablespoons dehydrated onion
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of potato soup
1 pint half and half or milk

Open the clams and drain the juice from them into a pan and cook the celery and onion in the juice until they're tender. It'll take about 10 minutes. In the pan, add the 3 cans of soup and dilute with half and half or milk to desired consistency. Bring to a boil -- add the clams but do not boil again. Now that your appetizer is ready lets go bake the clams! The fun part is you're going to do this on the beach! First you'll need the following ingredients for a party of 8.

8 baking or sweet potatoes
8 ears of corn
8 onions
8 chicken halves
8 live lobsters
4 to 8 dozen clams
Approximately 12lbs. of mixed greeds (collard greens, kale, etc.)
corn on the cob
lemons and melted butter

The materials you'll need to bake the clam -- About 15 yards of damp cheesecloth Three rolls of heavy duty -- 37 1/2 ft. aluminum foil. 100 lbs. of completely dry rocks (the size of grapefruit) Firewood and kindling Here's how to make your fourth of July clam baking pit: Dig a bow-shaped pit of 3 ft. in diameter and 1.5 feet deep in the center. Using crisscross pattern, line up the pit with double thickness of the heavy duty aluminum foil. Then, a layer of dry rocks about the size of a grapefruit. MAKE SURE THE ROCKS ARE DRY - WET ROCKS CAN EXPLODE!

Build a bonfire on top of the rocks in the pit. Use firewood and kindling. Let the fire burn 1.5 to 2 hours or until burned down and rocks are hot. NOTE: Do not use charcoal. Soak corn-on-the-cob (with silk removed) and mixed greens in cold water while fire is burning. Wash clams and set aside. Peel onions; remove ends. Oil potatoes. Refrigerate lobster on ice. Marinate the chicken halves with salt and pepper.

Once the fire has burned down, work quickly to prevent rocks from losing heat. Tamp down embers. On top of rocks, layer pit in the following order: Half of the greens, strips of wet cheesecloth, potatoes, corn, onions, chicken halves, live lobsters and clams. Cover food with remaining wet cheesecloth, then greens. Cover pit with heavy duty aluminum foil. Crimp all sides to the edges of aluminum foil used to line the pit. Let food steam cook 40 to 60 minutes. Remove the food immediately when it's done. Cooking times will vary depending on temperature of rocks. Peek at clams after 40 minutes. If they are open and lobsters are bright red, dinner is ready. Serve with melted butter and lemon. Yummy! Now comes the fourth of July dessert! (And by this time maybe the fireworks would have started and you can enjoy the show.)

12 c. melon balls (watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew)
1 c. lightly packed fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced
3 tbsp. Super-Fine sugar
3 tbsp. cognac or brandy
3 c. chilled champagne or other sparkling white wine
fresh mint to garnish

Mix first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Spoon fruit into dessert goblets. Pour champagne over fruit. Garnish with mint and serve. Makes 8-10 servings. Enjoy the evening! Happy Fourth of July clam fest! This fourth of July clam fest article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

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About The Author:

Julia Hayes is a freelance writer with a passion for ecards and getting connected with people through blogs and social networks. She writes blogs on Fourth of July Wishes and Ecards.

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