I must admit that before I moved to Rhode Island six years ago I had never tasted a stuffed Quahog. Those from this area already know that the Quahog is a large clam/bivalve it grows to about 3-4 inches. “Stuffies” are made from the meat of this native clam along with other ingredients such as bread crumbs, onions and red and green peppers. The first stuffies I had were good – hey I had never had them before – but the amount of breading was often a little too much. Because my family enjoyed them I began to experiment with the filling. My past time is often taking something I have had to eat and looking for ways to improve the taste. After trying various combinations of ingredients I came to find that what we liked the best was stuffing that included – pepperoni, italian sausage, homemade bread crumbs, onions, red and green peppers and of course the main ingrdient of the quahog. To accompany the Quahog a good clam chowder is in order. Rhode Islanders prefer a clear broth chowder, however, I still prefer the creamy clam chowder. Although the chowder is very tasty with the quahog, the “stuffie” is quite a meal in itself…nothing wrong with a little indulgence.
If you can’t get to Maryland to enjoy the Maryland Blue Crabs – have them come to you! Having grown up in Pennsylvania and summer family vacations to the Delaware and Maryland seashore, there is nothing better than steamed Maryland Blue Crabs. Being that I was the only person in my family that liked seafood when I became an adult and vacationed with my own family, I knew one thing for certain – no vacation was complete without sitting around the table with a bushel of steamed crabs cracking, picking eating and long conversation. Having good company when eating steamed crabs is an absolute must as the process of eating these tasty crustaceans takes time and effort and if you don’t have someone who is a good conversationalist or has a good sense of humor this dinner isn’t near as much fun. When my husband and I were not able to find time out of work schedules this summer…to be honest we could find the time but our teenage son had a summer job and we were committed to him being responsible for being at work which led to us being responsible and not leaving town in order for him to be at work. Back to the steamed crabs….when we couldn’t head to Maryland coast for dinner we had dinner come to us. We contacted The Crab Place (www.crabplace.com) and with a date set for our Crab Fest and a click of the mouse our fresh Maryland Blue Crabs were on their way traveling from Maryland to Rhode Island. Our crustaceans arrived in the middle of the day so they stayed cool and comfortable in their shipping container until evening. We set up the outdoor lobster pot for crab steaming and began layering the crabs with Old Bay seasoning, water, beer and vinegar. Within no time we were cracking the crabs, drinking margaritas and talking for hours. We may not have been in Maryland but steamed crabs, margaritas and the one you love in Newport RI isn’t bad at all….what a great life!
Newport Personal Chef 