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Cooking with Fan

Interested in learning how you too can make Tom Fan's Clams Casino or the Pizza by the Bounotempo '09 and '12 brothers? The ingredients list and recipes are below. 

Tom Fan’s Clams Casino:
  • 1-2 Dozen little neck clams 
  • 4-5 slabs of bacon
  • bell peppers (red, green, orange)
  • olive oil (2 tbs)
  • breadcrumbs 
  • Parmesan cheese to grate
  • Marsala wine  (1/4 cup)
  • salt & pepper
  • lemon
  • optional: jalapeño peppers, Uncased Italian sausage (mild or sweet). 
Equipment:
  • iron skillet or frying pan
  • mixing bowl
  • steamer
  • grill (pre-heated to 450) or oven (set to broil) 
Process:
  • Prep work:
    • dice peppers
    • cut bacon slabs into 3rds (about 1/2 inch to 1 inch long)
    • soak clams in cool water to clean (about 5-10mins) 
  • Process
    • Boil water to steam the clams. Once steamed set clams aside
    • Cook bacon to slightly undercook state on low to medium heat and then remove from pan, leaving bacon grease (do not overcook, they will be finished off in the grill or oven) 
    • Add a little olive oil (1 tbs?) to the pan and turn pan to medium heat
    • Add diced peppers, season with salt & pepper (about 5mins or so)
    • Remove clams from shell and break the shells into 2 pieces (you will use them later to serve the clams). Mince the clams into smaller bits
    • Once peppers start to change color, add a marsala wine (about a quarter cup), mix the pan, add the minced clams.
    • Cook the pan for about 5 more mins and shut off the heat.  Grate some parmesan cheese (to taste) and add a handful of bread crumbs to bind. Mix all in the pan. 
    • Pre-heat your grill to 450+ 
      • if you use an oven - set it to broil (high)
    • Spoon pan mixture into clam shells top with bacon cuts and fill a pan-sheet tray. 
    • Sprinkle with more parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs (to your taste) 
    • Put tray on grill and cover (watch for bacon to crisp up) and then pull of the heat
      • when broiling - 5mins at the most
    • Squeeze a lemon to season the clams and serve. 
Pizza by the Bounotempo brothers. (Gerry’09, Dan’12)
  • “Bread Flour” 12.7% protein (6 cups) 
  • cold water (2 1/4 cups)
  • instant dry yeast (1 tsp)
  • sea salt (2.5 tsp)
  • sugar (2 tsp)
  • extra virgin olive oil (1.5 tbs)
  • Additional pizza ingredients
    • sauce 
    • mozzarella cheese
    • olive oil
    • toppings
    • anything you wish to top with
Equipment:
  • mixing bowls
  • kitchen mixture
  • grill
  • pizza stone (or baking sheet & rack)
Process:
  • Pre-mix by hand....yeast, sea salt, sugar, olive oil
  • Add flour, and THEN water
  • Using a mixture, combine ingredients as dough begins to form (about 5-10mins)
  • Remove dough and roll into a ball and place in a greased mixing bowl and cover (rest for at least 30mins-1 hour but preferably 4 hours)
    • can be refrigerator up to 72 hours
  • Spread some flour onto stretching surface (& rolling pin if you are using one) & put dough ball onto surface for stretching. 
  • Stretch and/or roll dough into desired shape (smaller sizes for grill)
    • using hands work the outer rim of the dough, avoid the middle
    • lift dough and stretch and let gravity stretch the dough
    • pinch air-bubbles
  • Pre-heat grill to 425+ create 2 zones if possible (hot & cold zones)
  • Oil the grates and place stretched dough on direct heat and cover
    • if you have 2 zones, place pie on both zones (one half on direct heat, one half on cool zone), rotate your pie to make sure it is evenly heated
    • after 2-3 mins check the dough bottom for crispiness (light grill marks) and then flip
    • rotate flipped dough to even heat the pie
  • Add sauce & cheese & any toppings you wish
    • optional drizzle olive oil on the pie before sauce
  • Turn up the heat on the grill and place shaped & toasted pie on baking sheet & rack or pizza stone and cover
    • placing the toasted pie on a baking sheet will remove it directly from the heat if possible elevate the pie over the heat
    • check on the pie in 5-10mins depending on heat (the lower the heat, the longer you need to let it sit before checking)
    • when checking the pie, be sure to rotate it
  • Remove when reached desired finished
    • cut up and serve
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