Welcome to another edition of Chefs Share! In case you missed the launch of this column last month, here’s a reintroduction. In this new monthly feature, you’ll find recipes from your favorite restaurants – straight from the source. Each month, we’ll be shining the spotlight on a different chef who’s sharing a recipe off their menu.
Feeling a little nervous? There’s no need, as these dishes feature ingredients you can find at your market or grocery store, and they don’t require too many kitchen skills. Before you know it, you’ll be putting together a restaurant-quality meal without breaking a sweat.
This month’s recipe comes from Daniel Serfer, the chef behind two Miami institutions: MiMo’s Blue Collar and downtown Miami’s Mignonette. The restaurants couldn’t be more different from each other. While Blue Collar focuses on hearty and homey comfort food, Mignonette is a more upscale oyster bar and seafood restaurant.
Courtesy of Daniel Serfer
Daniel Serfer of Mignonette and Blue Collar
At BC, you can expect items like shrimp and grits, mac and cheese, Philly cheesesteaks and chicken Parm. At Mignonette, you’ll find selections such as crispy skin snapper, shrimp cocktail, South African lobster tails and filet mignon. And it’s at the latter restaurant that you’ll also find Serfer’s beloved clams casino.
Served as an appetizer at Mignonette, this classic seafood dish is simple yet decadent – its bacon and butter are not for the faint of heart! The end result, however, is worth the medical bill, as there’s so much flavor packed into the 24-clam yield. Share it with someone or keep it all to yourself – we won’t tell anyone. Here’s how you can recreate the dish at home.
CLAMS CASINO
• 6 strips smoked bacon, diced
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 whole shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 whole roasted red peppers, sliced into strips
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup white wine
• 24 wild middleneck clams, cleaned
• 1/2 stick butter
• 2 tablespoons toasted breadcrumbs
• Salt to taste
• 2 whole scallions, sliced into rings
• 1 loaf crusty bread
• In a large pot with a lid, sauté bacon over medium heat in olive oil until crispy and fat is rendered, 6 – 10 minutes. Remove and save for later.
• In the same pot with the bacon fat and olive oil, add the shallots, garlic, roasted peppers and crushed red pepper. Sauté until soft, about 3 minutes.
• Crank heat to high. Add the white wine, bring to a boil and reduce by one-third.
• Add the clams, give it a good mix, and cover until clams have opened and released their liquid, aka “liquor” (4 – 8 minutes – keep an eye on them).
• Once all the clams have opened, turn off heat, add butter and keep stirring until melted and a nice emulsified sauce has formed. Taste and season with salt if needed.
• Transfer everything to a serving bowl, top with the scallions, breadcrumbs, and reserved crispy bacon. Serve with warmed sliced crusty bread.