Stephanie Izard is a Top Chef winner, and her restaurant Girl & the Goat in Chicago is regularly booked for months out. She is known for her affinity with unusual flavor combinations that you'd never think would work—which is exactly what drew me to this dish. Sure, shellfish and cured pork almost always go well together—something I learned from Bill Buford's book Heat, a point he drives home over and over again. But then you take crème fraîche and mix in horseradish, then amp up the whole thing with spicy sambal paste? Too intriguing to pass up. More

In the event of a nuclear disaster, zombies taking over the planet, or an industrial food collapse, you'd want to be friends with the folks in this video. This short film is a meditation on survival and the beauty of doing things that aren't necessary with such conventions as matches and lighters. After wading in the river in Andalusia, Alabama, we cooked Corbicula Clams over a homemade fire. More

The juice released from the clams when combined with the smoky Nam Prik Pao becomes a delicious sauce that's greater than its individual components. With fresh Thai basil perfuming the whole thing, it's no wonder this dish is one of the most popular dishes at made-to-order food stalls. More

Quite simply, this is the indoor version of a clambake (without the hot rocks and seaweed). If you can't gain access to a beach and are craving a simple, but special treat, this lobster boil can evoke memories of evening by the ocean in a downtown apartment. The secret to getting everything to cook at the same time is to layer the seafood on top of the potato, corn and sausage. This version uses kielbasa, but a chorizo or even andouille could be a delicious addition to this recipe. More

Every once in a while I treat myself to geoduck, a hefty clam that sells for a hefty price. Geoduck is often described as ugly or strange, but is it really such an unattractive mollusk? Its appearance is not unsightly so much as it is unfamiliar: a ponderous clam shell from which a firehose kind of siphon protrudes, wrinkled and dark, like an extraterrestrial creature rising from the depths of the earth. More

If you want to eat clams the sea otter way, float on your back in water, put a rock on your belly, and smash the clam against the rock until it opens. It's way cuter when a sea otter does it. Watch the video after the jump.... More