Summertime and the grillin’s easy. Fish are jumpin’ and the shellfish supply is high. (And, no doubt, the ghosts of Ira and George Gershwin are horrified.) Although a lot of folks stick to cooking shrimp and the occasional lobster on their grills, I like to make my summer, shellfish meals a bit more intriguing with bivalves. Not sure if you’ve met this gang? You’ll surely recognize the members — clams, mussels, oysters and scallops. Of the aforementioned four, clams, specifically hard-shell clams, are my current favorite. As their name indicates, hard-shell clams possess hard shells. The other variety, soft-shell, has a brittle, thin shell that, because of a long, protruding siphon, doesn’t close completely. The clams that I grill are East Coast littlenecks. Possessing a grayish shell less than two inches in diameter, these are the smallest hard-shell clams. To clean my clams, I scrub them under running water with a stiff bristled brush. I then place them in a bowl of cold, salted water to soak. Here’s the cool thing about live clams. They …

Although I’ve been a pescatarian for over 15 years, I truly don’t have a favorite seafood; there are too many delicious fish in the sea – and lakes and rivers – to favor only one. I do, though, have a few that I turn to when having friends and family over for dinner. These are the fish and shellfish that appear glamorous on the plate and also taste fabulous on the palate. Among these tasty lookers are sea scallops. Generally eco-friendly bivalves, scallops fall into two categories —— the tiny, costly bay and larger, more abundant and less expensive sea. The latter is what you usually see at grocery stores and restaurants. At present diver-caught, Pacific sea scallops are the best choice for consumers. If you want beautiful presentation, you can’t go wrong with sea scallops. Whole, they resemble plump, round pillows perched atop a china or porcelain bed. Cut into them and you’ll find pearl colored, jewel-like, mildly sweet flesh. Just gorgeous! As with most seafood, scallops are a snap to prepare. They cook …

Like many, I’ve been in a post-holiday slump. Endless days of cooking, baking and eating rich, heavy dishes have left me apathetic about food. Want lunch? Pour some milk over a bowl of Cheerios and dig in. Yeah, I’ve felt that uninspired. Since I can’t live on dry, oat cereal alone, I’ve turned to a delicate dish favored by my husband’s Vietnamese step-father, pho. Part soup, part entree, this Vietnamese specialty boasts of clean flavors, fresh ingredients and satisfying portions. Pho’s wholesome simplicity and ease of preparation make it a wonderful antidote to the food funk into which I’ve slipped. Pho begins with a clear stock made from beef, chicken or pork, water and a bouquet garni. Cooks pour the heated stock into bowls filled with blanched rice noodles, strips of meat or fish and sliced spring onions. To this they may add mint, cilantro, bean sprouts and/or chilis. To add a little zing, they may serve pho with a splash of lime juice or fish sauce or dab of chili paste. Appetizing and light, …

Over Labor Day weekend I invited few friends over for Singapore Slings and chicken satay. You know how it goes. I visit a foreign country, buy and lug home 20 pounds of cookbooks and then have to justify my aching back and sagging bookshelves with exotic drinks and noshings. Depending on where you’re from, you may refer to what I grilled as a kebab, souvlaki, yakatori, espetada, shashlik or brochette. Then again, you might skip the fancy name and just say, “meat-on-a-stick.” However, if you’re eating Southeast Asian cuisine, you can only be talking about one thing — satay. Some historians attribute satay to the Indonesian island of Java. There Muslim traders from India reputedly introduced the islanders to kebabs. Indonesian cooks transformed these grilled hunks of skewered meat into the marinated and grilled strips of chicken, fish or meat known as satay. While Indonesia may lay claim to its creation, many Southeast Asian countries feature satay in their cuisines. It’s especially popular in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Served with a dipping sauce made from …