I think that the recipe Bob posted is basically my favorite way with Butter Clams that I have used for many years.

I like to use smaller butter clams for frying, somewhere about three inches in shell length. Slice them open with a fillet knife, use a pair of kitchen shears to cut the part of the shell that is still holding the two parts of shell together.

Rinse to remove any sand that may be in the clam, then dredge in flour. I usually use a ziplock bag with seasoned flour, dropping the clam in and shaking it so the clam is well coated with flour. Place the dredged half shells on a paper towel until ready to cook.

Some people may desire to clean out the green stuff in the stomach, but I don't bother, you don't clean oysters.

If you use a frying pan, place the clams in the pan shell side down and cook for a minute or two so the clam will be heated through the shell. This method keeps the meat more tender than starting with the clam meat side down.

Turn the clam over and cook until the flour and meat are browned. This only takes a couple of minutes so don't over-cook. Over cooking will result in a tough and very chewy clam.

If you use a deep fat fryer, the half shell clam will cook quickly as from both sides are getting equal heat.

Larger Butter Clams are excellent for chowder. Slice through the muscle that holds the body in the shell, using a flexible bladed knife (fillet knife), clean out the stomach area disposing the green stuff, cut off the black tip of the siphon and chop the cleaned clam into pieces. A food processor is the most efficient way to chop the clams to chowder sized pieces.

Be sure to check with the Health Department Shellfish Hotline to make sure the area where you dig butter clams is safe as Butter Clams retain bio-toxins (Red Tide) longer than native littlenecks and manilas and there may be a danger of paralytic shellfish poisoning when harvesting Butter Clams even if it is safe to eat these popular steamers.