Clams and Red Cabbage Wine Reduction Over Pasta

Steps to making clams and red cabbage wine reduction over pasta. 

The Winter Park Arts and Jazz Festival in Orlando is a semi-annual event that is a must do.  There are a great deal of restaurants lining the side streets to satisfy just about any craving.  During the summer of 2011 I and the Mrs. were craving a good half carafe of chardonnay.  Satisfying this craving was easy, once we stumbled into the Wine Room of Park Avenue.  They have an excellent selection of wines under $20, perfect for your Nappychef. 

Everything goes great with wine, especially clams and pasta.  Now the most important thing to remember when cooking with wine is to only use something that you also enjoy drinking by itself. 

A wine reduction will only intensify the taste.  So, if you select that stuff you used to drink in college that has a screw off cap or comes in a box with a straw, your meal will have just about that much elegance. 

Take a wine class if you get a chance and attend some wine tastings.  It is a great way to unwind after work and narrow down what you actually enjoy drinking.

Expand the description and view the text of the steps for this how-to video.

Check out Nappychef35 for other do-it-yourself videos from Shane and more videos in the Colorful Cooking category.

I would love to hear comments from you too!


If you want to cook some delicious Clams and Red Cabbage Wine Reduction Over Pasta without paying for the flight to Italy, here's an easy way to do it yourself.

To complete this How-To you will need:

24 - 36 Middle Neck Clams
1 Red Cabbage
3 Cups of Chardonnay (White Wine)
4 Cloves of Garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Olive Oil
Baby Portobello Mushrooms
1 cup of fresh basil leaves
2 Cups of Curly Pasta
1 Sprig of Rosemary
3 Bay Leaves
Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)

Step 1:  Minch and saute the garlic in olive oil for 1 minute on medium heat.

Step 2:  Add 1 Cups of Wine, bring to a boil.

Step 3:  Add clams and steam them open.

Step 4:  Remove the clams and set aside.  Remove clams from shells and chop them up.

Step 5:  Add 2 Cups of wine to clams broth.

Step 6:  Chop up the red cabbage into long strips.

Step 7:  Add mushrooms, basil, rosemary and cold butter chips to the clam broth.  Reduce heat and simmer.

Step 8:  Add cabbage and remove from heat.  You only want to wilt the cabbage so that it retains its color.

Step 9:  Cook the pasta al dante in lightly salted water and olive oil for 10 minutes.

Step 10:  Cool the pasta under cold water.

Step 11:  Add clams and wine sauce to the pasta.  Optional, sprinkle red pepper flakes.

Step 12:  Enjoy your masterpiece.



Thanks for watching How To Make Clams and Red Cabbage Wine Reduction Over Pasta! If you enjoyed this video subscribe to the Nappychef35 YouTube channel!  http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=nappychef35

Update From Uncle Ralf

Today was somewhat of an adventure.  The wife and I went to our local university to have our soil tested.  Wait, let me back up a bet.  The previous day, I went to the landfill to cop some of the free compost everyone in the know has been raving about.  I lined the trunk of my car with a rain tarp (this thing has a billion uses) and filled up.

So, obviously, I was very pleased with a trunk load of this black gold.  Eagerly, I unloaded and tilled into the soil.  It looked great.  You know, black the way you might expect volcanic ash to look.  So, I just knew this ground was ready yield the best fruit and vegetables imaginable.  However, just to be certain, I went to the garden department to get some combination compost and cow manure to give it some more kick.  Someone had mentioned that compost lacked nutrients and was really only good for holding moisture in the soil.  So, I don't know what to believe.

Back to today.  At the lab, we received what we thought was some  good news.  The lad said our soil was neutral Ph.  We did not really know what to make of that.  It was explained that we should have no problem planting in the soil.  Well, experience would suggest other wised.  So we had to fish for an answer, if our soil was good for planting so we would get the big fat harvest one day.  Finally, they suggested using some fertilizer.  Plants need sun, water and food.  This test was only about PH level. 

I still don't know what PH has to do with anything.  But, apparently our soil was good, and the different samples, one of with was filled with expensive Miracle Gro and everything else, were indistinguishable. 

Finally, we called uncle Ralph.  This is my wife's uncle in Arkansas that grew a prize winning watermelon that weighed 75lbs.  He confirmed that its important to feed the plants.  He used 13-13-13 fertilizer.  I had just put down some 12-5-7 all purpose fertiziler.  With a little bit of research on the web, I felt comfortable that this was indeed some good stuff.  In subsequent feedings, I may upgrade to the triple 13, but this seems good so far. 

The folks at the lab had recommended fertilizer with some pretty low numbers.  Whatever.  I'm going to stick with uncle Ralph.