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Clams in Casserole

A baked casserole of ground clams mixed with eggs, breadcrumbs, cream, butter, onion, parsley, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Clams in Casserole

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Grind the clams using a meat grinder.

Mix and bake

  1. In a bowl, combine the ground clams, eggs, bread crumbs, cream, melted butter, minced onion, minced parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and bake until set.

Serve

  1. Serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Clams
Form the main body of the casserole and provide the seafood flavor.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and help it set firm when baked.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and add body so the casserole holds together.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the casserole tender as it bakes.
Melted butter
Adds fat for richness and a softer texture.

The step that matters

Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and bake until set. Eggs set as they heat, so baking only until the centre is firm keeps the casserole tender. Overbaking squeezes out moisture and makes it dry and rubbery.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, egg, bread, cream, butter, parsley, pepper):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, egg, bread, cream, butter, parsley, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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