Clams With Garlic Butter Punch Is Life of Party

“Here’s an appetizer recipe to try on for size,” Mark Groseclose writes. “I use it for all purposes, such as when friends and family come over or if I just get a hankering for the taste of the stuff for myself, in which case I can modify the amount of ingredients to serve just one or two people.

“Amounts can be modified depending on the size of your party. I hope you enjoy them; I know I do, as do my friends and family.”

CLAMS WITH GARLIC BUTTER PUNCH

3 dozen clams, Littlenecks, Cherrystones or Japanese Asari clams, well scrubbed

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup cooked crab meat

3 tablespoons chopped leek

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes or 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh

Dash oregano

Dash paprika

2 tablespoons virgin olive oil

Freshly ground pepper

Steam clams in large pot filled with about 1/3 cup water, just until they all open. (Or arrange in microwave safe dish with hinges outward in circle away from center of dish. Microwave on HIGH 3 to 4 minutes or until shells open, discarding any unopened shells.) Remove and break off top shells. Reserve clam juice.

Mince mushrooms and crab meat in food processor. Combine leek, garlic, wine, butter, parsley, oregano, paprika, olive oil and pepper in saucepan. Add mushroom mixture and reserved clam juice. Simmer in small saucepan few minutes.

Arrange clams in baking dish and spoon garlic butter punch into or over each individual clam. Heat in 350-degree oven 8 to 10 minutes. (Microwave on HIGH 1 to 2 minutes.) Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty French bread to soak up juices.

--MARK GROSECLOSE

Hawthorne