ChefSteps co-founders Chris Young and Grant Crilly chew over the meaning of it all.

Why We Cook: A Film by ChefSteps

This gorgeous concoction of salty, smoky, and spicy components really ties a dish together, [link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezQLP1dj_t8 like a culinary Persian rug]. Dollop it on your fish tacos, hash browns, or fried eggs; serve it over seared halibut to add a punch of color; or make it the star of a colorful salad with smoked shellfish, avocado, and fresh herbs. It pairs perfectly with all the elements of a [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/northwest-clambake beachside clambake], and elevates our [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/home-clambake Home Clambake] into a stunning summer entrée. Heck, you might even enjoy it with a White Russian. ChefSteps abides.

Chorizo and Eggs

Let's face it: Clambakes and common sense just don't mix. Lobsters, clams, potatoes, and corn never cook at the same rate or temperature—so why do we try to roast them together over the same fire in the venerated east-coast summer ritual that is the beach-side clambake? Simple: Because despite the counterintuitive cooking method, the results tend to be delicious, and—perhaps more importantly—because it's fun.

Determined to get in on the action, the ChefSteps team trooped down to the foggy beaches of Washington State, on the Hood Canal, with a bounty of ingredients in tow. Though traditional clambakes include east coasty-things like lobstah, Maryland crab, and salty Atlantic seaweed, we chose to keep it close to home with native Dungeness crab, local mussels and clams, and fragrant cedar that grows right along the beach. 

We tackled the uneven cooking problem by placing ingredients that need the most cooking closest to the coals: potatoes first, then onions, sausage, crab, clams, lemons, and mussels. We realized too late that we had placed the corn on top of the clams, a simple sequencing error that left us with uncooked corn perched atop finished shellfish. But we refused to let that stop us: We simply pulled out the ingredients that were done first, and left the rest to keep cooking, periodically adding a plume of Rainier beer steam for good measure. 

By late afternoon, the sun had broken through the clouds, and we had a hot bed of coals and a pile of delicious food to show for it. Smoky, salty shellfish, all dressed up with Lawry's Seasoned Salt, mingled beautifully with tender, starchy potatoes, and sweet yellow corn. We ate, drank, skipped rocks, and enjoyed the summer sun. Did the day go exactly as planned? Not at all. But the point of a good clambake isn't perfection. It's about the delicious challenge of cooking in the most basic way, using simple ingredients from sea and land, without the benefit of fancy equipment, recipes, or a nearby market for sourcing last-minute needs.

And while the clambake itself was a challenge, we had a loftier goal in mind: To capture that magical beach feel, and bring it back to our urban test kitchen. To recreate all the smells and flavors of the beachside clambake, with nothing but household ingredients. (Ok, and a few gathered rocks.) [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/home-clambake Click here to check out the results.]

Pacific Northwest Clambake

Clambake Illustrated

Here's one good way to deconstruct a Dungeness—that sweet, meaty crustacean native to the Pacific Northwest, whose season heralds the beginning of summer for so many Seattleites.

Cleaning Crab

Meet the geoduck (pronounced “gooey-duck”), an iconic bivalve native to the Pacific Northwest, distinct in its enormous—and undeniably suggestive—stature. Geoducks are particularly popular in the Pacific Northwest, Asia, and New Zealand but largely unknown elsewhere in the world. If you can get your mitts on one, lucky you: their firm meat and savory flavor makes for awesome sashimi, delicate garnishes, and even hearty chowders.

Cleaning Geoduck

Our super-simple homemade chorizo oil has it all: Looking for a splash of color on a boring dish? Boom—bright vermilion looks dashing on plain plates. Want to add a little heat to your tacos? Youbetchya—the Spanish pork sausage is loaded with spicy pimento and smoked paprika. How about some subtle seasoning on your steamed mussels? Yup—chorizo oil is up to the task. Shellfish, chicken, pork, seafood, fried eggs, and pasta—it works on pretty much anything, so make a big batch and go hog-wild.

Chorizo Oil

We love [link https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pacific-northwest-clambake a good old-fashioned seaside feast] when the time is right. But we wondered: Is it possible to recreate that smoky, salty goodness from the comfort of a home kitchen? How can we translate all the charm and flavor of the seashore, without the sea?

In the noble name of research, we trooped out to the beach on a recent summer morning to experience the glory of clambaking firsthand. We soaked up the sights, smells, and sounds of the real thing, and then got straight to work the next morning designing an at-home version that would do it justice. 

We included some traditional clambake ingredients, and some Northwest favorites (like Dungeness crab instead of lobster), but you can use any ingredients that will fit inside a Dutch oven. We mimicked the smoky beach fire with toasted wood chips, and used rehydrated kombu for a healthy dose of brine. The biggest breakthrough in the development process was the decision to lay rocks inside the cast iron cookware. We found that if you pile all the food inside the pot, it will cook from the outside-in, leaving the interior undercooked, and the exterior overcooked. At first, we added rocks simply to help hold heat, which worked like a charm, but it didn’t help cook the interior and exterior ingredients more evenly. On our last trial, we decided to try piling the rocks in the center, so we could store heat in the middle of the pot. This way, the food would cook evenly from the outside and inside of the pot. To our great pleasure and surprise, it worked incredibly well! (And we’ll definitely be using that technique to help other one-pot dishes cook evenly.)

Behold, the fruit of our labor—a beach clambake, hold the beach. Try it family-style, or elevate it into an elegant summer entrée with salty sea beans and raw geoduck. Can't do <span class='italic'>that</span> at the beach, now can you?

Home Clambake

Clambake

Whether you’re a beach bum or a homebody, we’ve got a clambake for you. Here you’ll find recipes and instructions for throwing a full-blown beach clambake, complete with raging fire and cooler of beer, and for a home clambake hack, served inside a dutch oven with fresh seaweed and beach rocks. We’ve got techniques for breaking down whole crabs, cleaning geoduck, and making spicy, salty garnishes—so whether you’re staying home this weekend or hitting the beach, you’ve got dinner plans on lock.

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