Basic Mussel Hors D'oeuvres/Snack

[Tod Mills]

Steam some mussels.

Cut slices of cheddar cheese.

Open a packet of saltine crackers.

Mussel atop cheddar cheese atop cracker.

Eat.

Wash down with Guiness Stout or a good hearty ale.

Repeat. Great snack while cooped up on a foul-weather lay-day.

[Neil Gordon]

We usually steam mahogony clams, which are way less expensive than little necks and are almost always available at the grocery in Scituate when we're there.

I steam them in beer, in the Forespar stove. They're done when the top pops off the cook pot (as the clams open).