QUESTION: I've been told that it is easy to grill shellfish over charcoal coals. Is there a certain way that you should prepare the coals? Also, I haven't been able to find a recipe —- do you have one?ANSWER: I've also been told that grilling shellfish is easy, that the mail always arrives on time, that politicians never lie, that the carpet place is really going out of business, that the sticker price on the car is really the price the dealer paid, that there truly is a jury of our peers, and that yes, Tim, there really is a Santa Claus.Most of these may be wrong, but grilling shellfish really IS easy — and by the way I finally got the electric football set that I've been bugging Santa about for years now!As far as preparing the coals, the very last thing you should do is read the instructions that came with the grill or that are on the charcoal bag. Just kidding, Tim, you can actually read those, but they won't rake you over the coals like I will!If you want to use lighter fluid because you want to see that big ole' flame (which most guys like us usually want to see), first mound your charcoal briquettes into a cone or pyramid. Add approximately ½ cup of lighter fluid to about 3 pounds of charcoal. Soak no more than a minute, light it up, and let it burn for about 20 to 25 minutes, then spread out the charcoal.An electric charcoal starter also does a great job of getting the coals going. Just plug it in and pile the coals on top of it. After about three to five minutes, the coals should be burning and you can pull the starter out.This is just as effective and much safer than the "towering inferno" method, but doesn't offer nearly as much ego-boosting machismo power. And, since grilling shellfish isn't much of a challenge, you might want to do something like building a big fire to get that caveman feeling.Grilling shellfish is really a snap, whether you grill lobsters, clams, shrimp, scallops, oysters — yes, even oysters. I'm going to give you a recipe for about six big oysters and about ½ pound of clams per person (this is the right proportion if that is all the protein you are serving).Light your coals and then clean the seafood. First, make sure that the shells are completely closed and that the shellfish are alive. Tap on any of the shells that are slightly open. If they don't close up when you tap them, they are dead duds and should be served only if you're having your mother-in-law over.Scrub the oyster shells under running cold water with a hard scouring brush, making sure they are clean and rinsed well. Rinse off any dirt on the clam shells, or rub the dirt off with a paper towel.Once the forest fire has calmed down on the grill (about 25 minutes after you have lit the coals), make sure the grill rack is about 6 inches away from the coals. Spray the rack with some nonstick cooking spray (this will flare up a little bit, which should also make you feel good).Place the oysters and clams in one layer on the rack, taking care not to overlap them. For the oysters, keep the flat side up so that the juices can be held in by the rounded side. Do the same for the clams — if one side is more rounded than the other, make sure the rounded side is on the grill, flat side up.The clams should take three to four minutes and the oysters should take about five minutes (depending on their size). Remove the shellfish from the grill as they open up. Serve with melted garlic butter or a fish sauce.Tim, just in case you are bored with how easy this is, I'll share with you a few sauce recipes. You can either use them for dipping or ladling over the oysters and clams in their shells.