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Aside from the changing of the leaves in the fall, one of the best parts of New England is the romance of its coastal summers. In these dog days of summer, little sounds more rejuvenating that digging your toes into the sand, turning your face to catch the sea spray, and getting elbow deep in all the fixins for a good old fashioned New England clam bake.
Transporting yourself to that part of the world via train, plane, or automobile may not be in your plans this year, but one crack at a steamed lobster or clam right out of its shell and you might just swear that a salty breeze swept right through your own kitchen window.
New England cuisine is practically defined by its seafood. So for a stay-at-home New England vacation look no further than the quality of your locally available crustaceans. Crab is widely available and when in season can be modified to fit where you live in the country: Dungeness on the West Coast, stone crabs in Florida, blue crabs in New England, and frozen King Crab legs shipped about anywhere in the US from Alaska.
As great as crab is, for a truly decadent New England seafood feast--and one that's still cheaper than a tank of gas--try splurging on the king of all crustaceans, the lobster. In much of America, it is hard to find lobsters in your local market steamed and on ice, let alone alive and kicking. For those of us who aren’t graced with an amazing seafood section in our supermarket but are itching for a little lobster luxury, it can all be had by ordering online through websites such as www.mainelobsterdirect.com for not much more than you would pay in the store than the cost of Fed-Ex-ing overnight.
Aside from the impressively large crustaceans, it is the somewhat humble bivalve that completes the necessary assortment of seafood for a New England dinner. Mussels and clams can both be steamed until they pop open and eaten right of the shell, preferably using an empty shell as a sort of tweezer to get into the meat of the next one. Or if you are feeling really ambitious and have good quality varieties available, a tray of oysters on the half shell with nothing more than a little lemon or perhaps a mignonette sauce is an elegant way to start the meal, and still less expensive than an actual vacation.
Unless you want to keep it simple with a lobster roll or tucking a bib in for a bucket of blue crab, a great way to enjoy many of New England’s finest food offerings all together is with a good old fashioned clam bake. In the original form of this New England classic, a pit is dug in the sand and a fire started over which is placed a pot filled with seaweed, potatoes, sausages, corn, lobster, clams, and perhaps any other variety of available seafood. That pot steams for quite awhile, then can be ceremoniously dumped out on a large table for guests to, literally, dig in.
Even if you have a beach available, most of them don’t permit fires these days, particularly those not in regulation fire pits. But not to worry because a similar effect can be achieved in an extremely large pot on the stove--at which point the clam bake becomes a clam boil. Or, for an even simpler version, take a lot of the ingredients that go into a clam bake: potatoes, sausage, fresh corn, plus any kind of available seafood and make an easy stew that can be ready in less time that it might take for you to figure out how to shuck an oyster.
Bring a little seaside to the home front this summer with a New England style seafood dinner. Whether you are tucking in that lobster bib, breaking out the crab crackers, or boiling up a little clam bake feast, there is nothing like getting your hands on the fruits of the ocean to bring a breath of air so fresh that if you close your eyes you could almost hear the waves cashing in the distance.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
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Seaside on the Home Front
Aside from the changing of the leaves in the fall, one of the best parts of New England is the romance of its coastal summers. In these dog days of summer, little sounds more rejuvenating that digging your toes into the sand, turning your face to catch the sea spray, and getting elbow deep in all the fixins for a good old fashioned New England clam bake.
Transporting yourself to that part of the world via train, plane, or automobile may not be in your plans this year, but one crack at a steamed lobster or clam right out of its shell and you might just swear that a salty breeze swept right through your own kitchen window.
New England cuisine is practically defined by its seafood. So for a stay-at-home New England vacation look no further than the quality of your locally available crustaceans. Crab is widely available and when in season can be modified to fit where you live in the country: Dungeness on the West Coast, stone crabs in Florida, blue crabs in New England, and frozen King Crab legs shipped about anywhere in the US from Alaska.
As great as crab is, for a truly decadent New England seafood feast--and one that's still cheaper than a tank of gas--try splurging on the king of all crustaceans, the lobster. In much of America, it is hard to find lobsters in your local market steamed and on ice, let alone alive and kicking. For those of us who aren’t graced with an amazing seafood section in our supermarket but are itching for a little lobster luxury, it can all be had by ordering online through websites such as www.mainelobsterdirect.com for not much more than you would pay in the store than the cost of Fed-Ex-ing overnight.
Aside from the impressively large crustaceans, it is the somewhat humble bivalve that completes the necessary assortment of seafood for a New England dinner. Mussels and clams can both be steamed until they pop open and eaten right of the shell, preferably using an empty shell as a sort of tweezer to get into the meat of the next one. Or if you are feeling really ambitious and have good quality varieties available, a tray of oysters on the half shell with nothing more than a little lemon or perhaps a mignonette sauce is an elegant way to start the meal, and still less expensive than an actual vacation.
Unless you want to keep it simple with a lobster roll or tucking a bib in for a bucket of blue crab, a great way to enjoy many of New England’s finest food offerings all together is with a good old fashioned clam bake. In the original form of this New England classic, a pit is dug in the sand and a fire started over which is placed a pot filled with seaweed, potatoes, sausages, corn, lobster, clams, and perhaps any other variety of available seafood. That pot steams for quite awhile, then can be ceremoniously dumped out on a large table for guests to, literally, dig in.
Even if you have a beach available, most of them don’t permit fires these days, particularly those not in regulation fire pits. But not to worry because a similar effect can be achieved in an extremely large pot on the stove--at which point the clam bake becomes a clam boil. Or, for an even simpler version, take a lot of the ingredients that go into a clam bake: potatoes, sausage, fresh corn, plus any kind of available seafood and make an easy stew that can be ready in less time that it might take for you to figure out how to shuck an oyster.
Bring a little seaside to the home front this summer with a New England style seafood dinner. Whether you are tucking in that lobster bib, breaking out the crab crackers, or boiling up a little clam bake feast, there is nothing like getting your hands on the fruits of the ocean to bring a breath of air so fresh that if you close your eyes you could almost hear the waves cashing in the distance.
New England Clam Bake Stew
Made with celery, new potatoes, oregano, bay leaf, paprika, cayenne pepper, white wine, ears corn, clams, tomatoes
Made with celery, new potatoes, oregano, bay leaf, paprika, cayenne pepper, white wine, ears corn, clams, tomatoes
Serves/Makes: 4
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound chorizo sausage
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 ribs celery
- 4 baby new potatoes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 ears corn
- 1 3/4 pound manila clams
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 cups chicken stock
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
Preheat olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Slice chorizo in 1/2-inch rounds and finely chop onion. Add onion and chorizo to pot and saute for 3 minutes or so until chorizo has mostly browned on all sides and onion has begun to soften.
Mince garlic and slice celery lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/4-inch dice. Add garlic and celery to onion and continue sauteing for another couple of minutes.
Meanwhile, leave skin on potatoes and cut each into 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch dice. Add diced potatoes to pot along with oregano, bay leaf, paprika and cayenne. Add white wine and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until wine is reduced by half.
Remove husk and silk from corn. Cut kernels from corn and set aside. Rinse clams in a colander. Dice tomatoes into small dice.
When wine is reduced, add corn, clams, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Cover with a lid and turn heat to high. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for about 3 minutes until clams open up fully.
Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle stew into bowls and top each with chopped parsley.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/734-new-england-seafood/