Over the past year, I have had the privilege of working with a local business owner named Brian Doherty. He and his brother, Mickey, own B&M Catering- a full service catering company located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Their original service started as catering clambakes. Today, keeping true to their roots, or should I say "claws", they have a product called Clambakes to Travel. It is a tin bucket (similar to a paint can) stuffed with lobster, steamers, mussels, chourico, corn on the cob, red bliss potatoes, onions...and a little seaweed for taste. You add a can of beer to the mixture and cook for about 20-25 minutes. As you wait, the smell of the sea fills the room and you begin to consider bringing out the beach chairs. They provide you with a red and white check table cloth, metal lobster crackers, and lobster bibs, so there is very little to do, except maybe enjoy a cocktail and melt some butter.
We seemed to eat our clambake the way it was packed. We used the mussels, steamers and chourico as appetizers. After fighting over who would have the last mussel, we put our lobster dinner together. The cooking of the vegetables with the seafood made for an incredible meal; the lobster was deliciously moist. The only thing missing was the temperature outside being a balmy 80 degrees and my toes being buried deep in the sand.
If you are tired of the cold weather and the same old take-out, give yourself a treat and try a Do it Yourself Clambake...it's worth the culinary trip!
