ingredients
Ingredients
1 2 Stone & Skillet English Muffins, cut in half
1 pound shucked clams cherrystones, littlenecks, or Western littlenecks or Manila clams
1 cup corn flour, as in "fish fry" mix
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of a salt
1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup buttermilk or evaporated milk oil for frying
Tartar sauce
preparation
Instructions
Pick through the clams to make sure there are no bits of shell or obvious grit. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Submerge the clams in buttermilk.
Preheat the oven to 200ºF and put a rack set over a baking sheet inside the oven. Heat enough oil to float the clams, about a quart or so. Heat the oil to 350ºF.
When the oil is almost ready, coat a few clams in the breading. Don't dredge more than your fryer can handle in one batch, as you want the clams to go right from breading into the fryer. If you want super-extra crispy clams, dip the breaded clams back in the buttermilk and again in the breading.
Fry the clams until they are golden brown, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Sprinkle salt over fried clams. Move them to the rack in the oven and repeat with the remaining clams -- make sure the oil gets back up to temperature between batches.
Slather bottom muffin with tartar sauce, top with fried clams and top muffin.
