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Clam Fritters
Beat 2 eggs light, sift in 1/2 cupful of flour, add 1/2 cupful of milk; thus forming a batter. Chop up 12 good-sized clams in chopping-bowl. Add 1 teaspoonful minced parsley, 1/4 teaspoonful salt, a dash of pepper; add to the batter. If not of sufficient consistency to drop into boiling fat, add a little more flour. Fry crisp, either in deep fat, or saute in frying-pan. Drain, and serve.
A plain shellfish fritter batter of the sort that turns up in every American cookbook of the period. The only real variables are the fat temperature and how much of the clam liquor ends up in the bowl.
- The hinge: batter thicknessChopped clams release liquor, which thins the batter well past the point where it will hold together in fat. Drain the chopped clams, save the liquor, and add flour by the spoonful only until a spoonful of batter holds its shape when dropped.
- What "12 good-sized clams" meansProbably hard-shell clams, quahogs, cherrystones or large littlenecks, shucked and chopped, though soft-shell clams were also used along this coast. Twelve of them come to somewhere in the region of a cup of chopped meat. Canned chopped clams, well drained, are a reasonable substitute.
- Fat temperatureDeep fat should be 365-375F. Below that the fritters absorb grease; above it the outside colors before the batter sets in the middle. Fry in small batches so the temperature does not crash.
- Cooking timeTwo to three minutes, turning once, until deep gold. Clams toughen quickly, and these are small — there is no benefit to longer frying.
- SeasoningA quarter teaspoon of salt for the whole batch assumes salty clams and their liquor. Taste the chopped clams first and adjust; clams sold shucked in tubs vary considerably.
- Sauteing insteadThe pan option calls for a generous film of fat, not a greased skillet — think 1/4 inch, with the batter dropped by the tablespoon and flattened slightly so the center cooks through.
- YieldAbout a dozen fritters, depending on the size dropped. Lemon or tartar sauce is a common accompaniment.