On the hunt for Seafood

It was Saturday afternoon, probably around 2:30pm before I started thinking about what to make for dinner. Weekend cooking is so much more enjoyable, that way I can take my time selecting a recipe, head out to the local market to buy the food and then turn on the tunes and cook away. Anyway, I made my way to the kitchen to do some "browsing" of the cookbooks.

This photo above shows our "cookbook central". Chris happened to be in the kitchen, so I asked her what kind of food she was in the mood for tonight. She replied, "something interesting and new". She handed me a stack of cut out magazine pictures that were of various Italian pastas, but mind you no recipes attached, just pictures. Well, like I have said previously, I am not the most inventive person in the kitchen and much prefer to follow a recipe. So with that in mind, I did some further research and came across a recipe out of a May 2002 edition of Bon Appetit.

Final selection of a recipe usually hinges on a few key elements (complexity and availability of ingredients), but basically it really comes down to whether I can get the items to at least make the attempt of putting out an edible dish on the table. So, after a brief scan of the recipe's ingredients, I give it the "green light". The recipe called for: Extra virgin olive oil, garlic thinly sliced, 3 Lbs fresh clams, fresh parsley, dry white wine, and fresh lemon juice.

A quick look at the microwave clock and "Oh, Oh" it is somewhere around 3:20pm. I know that may not mean much to you all back in the States, but here in Norway on a weekend it will send out alarm bells. Are the stores still open that will sell the ingredients that I need to accomplish the task at hand? I turn to Chris and say, "Lock and load" - (translation: Grab your coat and walking shoes honey!). So out the door we went heading for the seafood store in our neighborhood. The day was cold and there was a light rain coming down, ten minutes later we arrived at their doorstep. First indication - lights on....good. However, as I glanced in the window to my right I saw the man cleaning up the large metal trays that kept the day's catch. Rats! Yes, we had missed the window of opportunity, closing time was at 3pm. OK, now what? Not too mention that before we left the house I also checked our wine cabinet, arrgh, no white wine.

Decision making time - 1) Head to our local grocery store and hope that they have fresh clams; or 2) head to the local state controlled liquor/wine store for the dry white wine. The Sailor in me made this an easy decision, booze. I mean if I couldn't make the dinner, well at least we could enjoy a nice bottle of wine, bang out some slices of cheese with our handy-dandy Norwegian cheese slicer, slice up some of that nice pepperoni and "whoo-hoo", Bob's your Uncle.

Roadblock #2: The Vinomonopolet (Norwegian version of our ABC stores) had closed at 3pm! Come on people, what kind of place is this...people need their wine on the weekends too you know. Well, now the focus was back on the food since no other place sells wine (the grocery stores only sell beer here). So, off to the local "ICA" supermarket. Cut to the chase....seafood counter...no clams. It is not looking good for the home team. Well, just by chance we happened to run into our German neighbor on the way and he happened to mention that they sold some nice quality clams at another supermarket chain called "Centra". What the heck, now Chris and I were looking at this as a CHALLENGE! A quick ride on the trikk (cable car) and we were there.

Cut to the chase....seafood counter....clams were there....only one visible bag of them.....many customers at the counter and no "ticket" system in place.....arrgh, we will get them or not?....YES!

Oh yes, the most ironic thing happened on the ride there. Chris, the lost glove photographer, lost her gloves on the trikk.

On the ride home, I was thinking that I would substitute beer for the wine, but lady luck was on our side. I re-checked my wine stock and found that I had squirreled away my 2006 World Cup Riesling bottle, a souvenir I bought at the Stuttgart Airport that I brought home during one of my trips to Germany awhile back. It was bottled for the World Cup as a promotion gift, so I wasn't keeping my hopes up for a quality wine. What we experienced that evening was a pleasant surprise! The wine itself was a crisp, fruity and refreshing 2004 Riesling from the banks of the river Mosel.

To finish off our little story. Here are a couple of photos of the finished product which I must say was pretty tasty.