A classic New England beach clam bake is one of those idyllic pastimes—like a whole pig roast—that are actually pretty difficult to pull off. Even if you have the opportunity to build a fire in a pit of sand on the beach and succeed in getting the rocks inside molten-hot to create ovenlike conditions, your home oven can do the trick just as well—without sand getting in your food. Who doesn’t love a juicy mess of sweet corn, potatoes, and clams drenched in butter? Cue the sheet pan—it takes all of ten minutes in the oven for littlenecks to go agape, spilling their brine across the pan to mix with melted butter and get absorbed by the potatoes. We’re inviting chicken to this party, too—drumsticks or other handheld pieces with a classic Old Bay seasoning rub. All together, it’s a finger-friendly, bib-worthy, nostalgic feast.
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Rub the chicken with the Old Bay and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to coat thoroughly. Arrange the chicken on a sheet pan, leaving at least 1 inch between each piece. Toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large bowl and season with salt, pepper, and a couple shakes of Old Bay, if you like; toss again to coat. Arrange the potatoes on the pan with the chicken. Roast for 25 minutes.
- Rub the corn pieces with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Rinse the clams under cold water and pat dry. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and carefully flip over each piece of chicken and all the potato pieces. Nestle the corn and the clams among the chicken and potatoes on the pan. Roast for 10 to 20 minutes, or until all the clams are fully open. (Discard any clams that have not opened after 20 minutes.)
- Remove the pan from oven. Drop the butter cubes onto the pan and watch them melt. Using a metal fish spatula, loosen the chicken and potatoes from the pan and gently stir everything around to incorporate the melted butter into the juices from the clams and the chicken and coat the corn with this mixture.
- Sprinkle the parsley over everything, if desired, and serve.
Recipe courtesy of SHEET PAN CHICKEN: 50 Simple and Satisfying Ways to Cook Dinner. Copyright © 2020 by Cathy Erway. Photography by Lizzie Munro. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
