Cornwall - The final clamdown (AKA Cornwall Take 3)

It's our last day in Cornwall today before we head back up to the smoke. Last night was my final cooking experiment of the holiday - we had fish and chips today from Morrish fish and chip shop in Redruth. They serve absolutely the best fish and chips I've ever had from a takeaway. That and a bottle of Cornish Rattler cider, and I'm a happy girl. For an hour or so anyway.

Anyway - where was I? It's razor clam and swordfish night, and what I most wanted to do was light up the barbecue and throw on the swordfish. Unfortunately it was cold and windy, and as we'd just got back from a (rather brave) long walk along the coast, we'd had enough of the cold and wind for one day.

1. Razor clams

I had never seen razor clams in real life before. When I bought them, they were still squirming and frightened me a little (although that may have been the weird moment the fish man had with one of the clams when he tenderly squished one and watched it wriggle about). So, I bought the clams on Wednesday - they were still alive yesterday (Thursday) evening and were squirming slowly away when I rinsed them out for cooking.

What you need for this recipe is:

1 red chilli, chopped finely

4 garlic cloves, chopped finely

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

A couple of glugs of olive oil

A glug of white wine

The juice of one lemon

First, drop the clams in boiling water for 5-10 seconds and then drain immediately. When I did this, one of the clams snapped open and it wriggled around as if trying to escape the boiling water. This was very disturbing is still haunting me. I'm basically a murderess.

Once I'd cold-heartedly boiled the clams to death, I left them to cool in a colander and then gently removed them from their shell with a sharp knife. I placed the shells into a baking dish and then removed grainy sac in the middle, cut off the dark, toothy end and pulled out the long, feathery gills. I then rinsed them, chopped the clam meat diagonally and placed the pieces into one half of the clam shells.

I then heated the oil on a low heat, added the garlic and chilli and sauteed for a couple of minutes. I then also added the lemon juice and a glug of white wine, a little salt and pepper, and simmered for another few minutes until piping hot. Then,I poured the mixture over the clams and placed them under a preheated grill for about 2-3 minutes (the clams should be heated through).

When served, they looked pretty and tasted great, even if I say so myself. Almost good enough to remove the guilt of watching the clams squirm to their death....

2. Griddled swordfish with tomato salsa and corn on the cob

This bit was easy in comparison - I adapted a Rick Stein recipe from his Taste of the Sea series. For the salsa, I  mixed:

- 1 avocado, chopped into about 5mm pieces

- 4 tomatoes, chopped into about 1cm pieces

- 2-3 tablespoons of chopped coriander

- 3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

- 1 shallot, chopped finely

I then set it aside and boiled the corn on the cob (do it by packet instructions, but mine needed about 8 minutes) as well as brushing the swordfish with olive oil and seasoning it with salt and pepper.

I placed the swordfish on a hot griddle pan - it depends how you cook it and on the size of your swordfish steaks, but mine took just under 5 minutes on each side to be cooked properly. Try not to overcook as it can become dry.

All this served together worked really well and would make a great bbq dish. One to try again on a Summer's day! Eat with a fruity white wine and a good movie.