MMMmmmoysters!

Port Madison Petite Oysters

Puget Sound Restoration Fund CSA, Bainbridge Island

A loaf of bread, the Walrus said,

Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now if you're ready, Oysters, dear,
We can begin to feed!
Lewis Carroll -- Alice Through the Looking-Glass

"You know what would be fun?"  I said to Phil, one warm August night, as we sat on our deck, shucking and slurping Port Madison Petite oysters out of the shell.  Phil raised an eyebrow, skeptical, remembering when I once suggested we take a pitcher of martinis up to the roof to better view the sun setting behind the Olympic Mountains. 

"We should haul a rug and a pile of pillows down to the yard, light candles, and watch a movie on the laptop under the stars."  He was surprisingly amenable, perhaps as this did not involve crawling down a 12-foot ladder in the dark after drinking gin. 

We learned later that night that raccoons also enjoy local oysters.  Heading back to the house post-movie, we surprised six enormous beasts tearing into remnants in shells we neglected to take in.  We stomped, we shooed.  They advanced, growled, and snarled.  Outnumbered, outfanged, and outclawed, we retreated to the front door. Lesson learned.

Last Friday we picked up our first oyster share of the 2015 season from the Puget Sound Restoration Fund.  

The weather wasn't cooperating, so we shucked and slurped in the kitchen, and oh are the oysters good.  Bracing, briny, clean, and only hours out of the sea.      

Shucking oysters is actually easy.  It just takes a little practice. All you need is an oyster knife and a towel to protect your hand.  Taylor Shellfish retail store in Shelton sells used oyster knives for a few bucks, or you can buy them at most grocery stores and kitchen supply stores. We prefer an oyster knife with a thin, long blade and pointy end. 

 Prod To Locate The Hinge And Rock The Knife To Pop Open The Shell
Use A Towel To Protect Your Hand
Phil Has Had A Lot Of Practice
And Is Confident He Won't Slip With The Knife

 Slide Knife Tip Along Edges And Remove Top Shell

Slip Knife Gently Under To Release The Oyster 

Slurp.  Repeat.  

You don't need to add anything to oysters this fresh, but a wee squeeze of lemon, or grated fresh horseradish will compliment their flavor, without covering it up. 
  If you're not up to shucking your own, the Harbor Public House serves local oysters.  If you want to splurge on an oyster night out, go to the very lovely Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard.  The line will be long, but you can wait it out at the bar at Barnacle or Chippy's.  If you get tired of waiting, the fish and chips at Chippy's are brilliant.

If eating raw bivalves isn't your thing, set oysters on a hot grill until the shells open, and top with any sauce you like. Remoulade, chimichurri, or harissa are tasty.  Add some bread, as the walrus said, and a big salad, and you've got a meal. 

But what to drink?  Chilled shots of vodka, and sparkling or still white or rosé wine pair well with oysters.  If you like spirits, try a gin and tonic, Moscow Mule, or Gin-Gin Mule.  If you don't drink alcohol, try sparkling water mixed with balsamic drinking vinegar from The Shop Agora or pomegranate molasses. 

It's not too late to sign up for a monthly share for a dozen or more oysters.  CSA information is on the Puget Sound Restoration Fund website.  They do a lot more than farm oysters.  They work collaboratively to restore marine habitat, water quality, and native species in Puget Sound.  All proceeds from shellfish sales support local water quality improvement projects and community involvement programs.  

If you have waterfront property, you can become a shellfish gardener.  PSRF will provide you with everything you need and you will have local oysters and clams to enjoy year-round.  Their annual shellfish seed sale is Saturday, June 6th from 8:30am - 12:00pm, but you must order in advance.  Contact wendy@restorationfund.org for information.

A Martini - Shaken or Stirred?  You Decide.

If Phil and I could be fictional characters, we'd choose Nick and Nora Charles.  He always elegant, debonair, a bon vivant.  She a sassy, beautiful, heiress.  Together they throw lavish parties, drink with no ill-effect, and solve the occasional murder.  Their love of cocktails is a running gag throughout the Thin Man Movies.

My approach to crafting cocktails is to learn from professionals and then tinker until I like the results.  Here is a recipe for a classic dry martini, requiring no special tools. 

Classic Dry Martini  (Makes 2 Drinks)
6 ounces gin
2 teaspoons dry vermouth
Ice from filtered water or purchased bagged ice
2 strips of peel from a large fresh lemon
2 large green olives (optional)

Place two cocktail glasses in freezer.  Pour gin and vermouth in a large heavy tumbler, such as a pint beer glass or 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup.  Add 7 large ice cubes.  Using a long spoon, stir for 90 seconds.  Remove glasses from freezer.  Using the back of the mixing spoon as a barrier to the ice, pour drink into chilled glasses. 

Hold lemon peel about 4 inches above and slightly off to the side of the rim of the glass, and squeeze to express the citrus oil over the drink.  Run the peel side around the rim of the glass, and gently float peel on top of the cocktail.  Add olives, if desired. 

Gin or vodka, or both?  And which brand? 

Purists insist the only martini is a gin martini.  Piffle.  I like gin or vodka alone, or half and half.   

Different styles and flavor profiles of spirits yield dramatically different results.  Visit a good cocktail bar and try a few before you buy bottles.  Our "house" martini is half Bombay gin and half Kettle One vodka. Combined, they make a clean, crisp cocktail.  For a little botanical flavor, but still an economical drink, use Tanqueray gin.  In the mood for something more complex?  Small-craft Washington distillers produce rich, botanical vodka and gin that make full-bodied, distinctive martinis.  A few to try are:  Bainbridge Organic Distillers, Oola, Sun Distillers, and Coppertop. 

Vermouth   

Several brands of dry vermouth are readily available.  Martini & Rossi Extra Dry and Noily Prat are ubiquitous, and just fine.  Dolin or Lillet Blanc are one step up in price and quality. 

Bar Toys

There are a few pieces of barware that make mixing cocktails easier and more elegant, and they are inexpensive.  A shot glass or two is a must.  Otherwise, you most likely have an equivalent item in your kitchen, so it's up to you if you want to spend money on toys.

Yarai cut glass mixing pitcher.  Available at most kitchen supply stores or online for about $25.  They usually come with a Hawthorne strainer, which I highly recommend.

Cocktail glasses.  Buy mismatched vintage glassware in antique shops for $3 - $8 per glass. Don't buy glasses that hold more than 6 ounces.  Smaller glasses mean your drink is properly chilled from first to last sip. 

Long bar spoon.  Makes mixing easier, and is good for cracking ice, if you want smaller cubes for drinks.  

Channel knife.  For removing long strips of citrus peel for twists.

Cocktail shaker.  Buy a big metal cup base, a heavy pint glass, and a strainer. These are the workhorses of the professional barkeep.  Forget the three-piece metal sets.

Ice.  There are a variety of shapes and sizes of ice molds designed for use with different cocktails depending on how much dilution you want in a drink.  Molds are available at kitchen supply and barware stores.  The only critical element is that your ice has no off-taste.  Filter your water or buy ice.

A Few Martini Variations

Add a little olive brine to the mixing glass for a dirty martini.

Add a few drops of orange bitters to the mixing glass.  Buy bitters at grocery  or liquor stores.

Pink Gin or Vodka:  Add 6 drops of Peychauds bitters to the classic martini recipe. Omit the vermouth and olives.

Vespa:  Equal parts gin and vodka with Cocchi Americano (to taste).  Replace lemon twist with grapefruit twist.  Omit olive.

Vesper: 3 ounces Tanqueray gin, 1 ounces Stolichnaya vodka, 1/2 ounce Lillet Blanc, dash Peychaud bitters. (This per Esquire magazine, in recreating the classic James Bond cocktail using modern ingredients.)  Follow directions for preparing classic martini.

Shaken or stirred?     

Cocktails that are 100% spirit are stirred to prevent over-diluting and to prevent ice chips from making the drink cloudy.  
Cocktails that contain ingredients other than spirit, such as fruit juice or simple syrup, are shaken to insure all ingredients are fully blended.  Drinks that contain raw egg are given a dry shake first (no ice), and then a second shake with ice, and poured through a mesh strainer.

We almost always stir a martini.

A Stirred Martini

But here's the thing.  If it's a hot night, I advocate putting glasses, shaker, and spirits in the freezer for half an hour, and shaking up a frosty martini, with a few ice chips suspended for extra coolness.  Right or wrong?  I don't care. 

A Shaken Martini

Bear in mind that martinis are all spirit, and so meant to be sipped and enjoyed in moderation.  As Dorothy Parker famously said . . . I like to have a martini, two at the very most.  After three I'm under the table, after four I'm under my host.   

The Light and Dark Side of Nettles

Nettles are the darling of spring restaurant menus -- with good reason.  They are loaded with vitamins and protein.  They're also free and delicious.  There is a plethora of information on uses for nettles.

At Bainbridge Vineyards, Betsey Wittick gathers nettles and horsetail to make a fermented tea, which is sprayed on young grape foliage to mitigate fungal disease.  No chemicals needed.

Looking for a way to incorporate nettles into other aspects of your life?  Consider this:

Gabrielino men stung themselves all over with nettles before leaving on hunting trips. This was done to make them watchful, vigilant and clear sighted.  Heizer, Indians of Los Angeles County 32, 36.

Seattle’s Dan Savage offers:

The leaves and stems of stinging nettles are covered with tiny hollow hairs. When a person comes in contact with the plant, the tips of the hairs break off, stick in the person's skin, and then, like a lot of little hypodermic needles, pump in a venom that makes the skin itch, swell, tingle, and burn for hours. The Romans thrashed men "below the navel," according to Rodale's Encyclopedia of Herbs, to improve virility. And while occasional contact with stinging nettles--even below the navel--won't do you any lasting harm, "massive or repeated contact" with stinging nettles isn't advisable. So like all good vices--booze, boys, bacon--stinging nettles should be enjoyed in moderation. http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=14566

Thanks, Dan.

I have thoughts on less painful ways to use nettles.

First, tips on gathering and prep.  The trail to Gazzam Lake off Deerpath on Bainbridge Island has nettles galore right now.  Below, patient husband gathers nettles while I fuss with camera.

Wear long pants, sturdy shoes, and gloves.  Choose small, young nettles.  Use garden clippers to snip the top few rows of leaves.  Drop nettle tops into a paper grocery bag.  Back home, bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Have a colander ready.  Using long BBQ tongs, remove nettles from bag in bunches. Give them a hard shake over the sink to remove stowaway insects or debris, then plunge nettles into boiling water.  After 30 seconds the sting is gone and nettles are ready to eat.  Drain blanched nettles in colander.  The cooking liquid can be strained and drunk as tea. I don’t care for the taste, but Phil thinks it would go great with gin.  He's always thinking.

You can freeze blanched nettles in their cooking liquid in Ziploc bags. 

A simple and versatile way to use blanched nettles is to make pesto.  Here’s a basic recipe, and also a cool blog:  http://fat-of-the-land.blogspot.com/2009/03/stinging-nettle-pesto.html  If you have a basil pesto recipe you like, just swap in nettles.  I substitute hazelnuts for pine nuts, to stay with the local theme.  Walnuts or pecans work, too.  You can also add fresh sorrel for a lemon kick.  It’s in season the same time as nettles.

Nettle Hazelnut Pesto

Use your finished pesto on pasta or polenta, for crostini or cruditės. Toss warm roasted baby potatoes in it. Substitute nettle pesto for tomato sauce on a pizza.  Put a tablespoon or two in scrambled eggs.  (Yes, green eggs and ham!) 

If you have a piece of fresh fish, spread with nettle pesto, top with thinly sliced leeks or spring onion, lemon slices, and a splash of white wine, dry vermouth, or Lillet Blanc.  Grill fish or wrap in parchment and bake.

Grilled Salmon and Leeks on Nettle Pesto

Blanched and drained nettles can be subbed in nearly any recipe calling for spinach, such as risotto, dips, calzone, omelets, spanakopita, quiche, and smoothies. 

With nettles, there’s something for every predilection.

The Man Pulling Radishes
                            

The man pulling radishes
pointed my way
with a radish. -- Kobayashi Issa

Radishes.  Boring. 

Or so I used to think.  They sat by my taco for color.  They were slivered on salads for . . . wait for it . . . color. 

A fresh radish is crunchy and zippy with the extra bonus of tasty bright green leaves.  I bought these breakfast radishes from Persephone Farms at Farmers' Market last weekend.  And yes, I ate some for breakfast.

Things to do with radishes in addition to pointing directions:

1.  Take raw radish in hand.  Drag through softened butter sprinkled with sea salt.  Eat.  Repeat.  You can amp it up by mixing a little anchovy paste into the softened butter (omit the salt).

2.  Spread a hearty cracker or grilled bread with a soft cheese.  Boursin, goat cheese, Hey Day Farms boivre, or cream cheese. Top with thin slices of radish, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper.  Add baby arugula, mizuna, or pea shoots for even more contrast and crunch.

3. Roast them.  Here's a simple recipe from Epicurious 

Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter, Lemon, and Radish Tops

4. Make a salad with radish tops.  Wash them well, pat dry with a paper towel.  Serve with a lemony dressing.  Here's my go-to dressing for radish tops, or grilled vegetables like asparagus or sprouted broccoli. I've also drizzled it on nettle, leek, and sorrel soup.

Run a small clove of garlic through a press into a small mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon mustard, 3 tablespoons of sour cream or whole milk yogurt, 1/2-teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of pepper.  Whisk until combined.  Add 1/2 cup olive oil and whisk again.  Sometimes I add a little minced shallot, or fresh chives, or fresh thyme leaves.  Dressing keeps covered and refrigerated for a few days.

The Egg and I

Eggs and I started off amicably enough.  As a young girl, my grandfather often made Sunday breakfast for me.  Soft-boiled eggs, served in a heavy, old ceramic cup shaped like Humpty Dumpty.  Humpty sported a red bow tie.  Humpty had panache. 

Then one day it all went wrong with the introduction of scrambled eggs.  What were the white crumbly bits?  Extra whites, I was told.  Eat up.  More like throw up.  They were brains.  Brains. After that eggs and I parted company for a couple of decades.

In retrospect I didn't miss out on anything.  The eggs of my youth had pale tasteless yolks and water-thin cloudy whites.  Trucked across the state from factory farms to grocery chains, they were weeks old when we bought them. 

Fast forward to here and now.  Have you noticed signs advertising fresh eggs popping up everywhere?  Time it right, and your eggs will still be warm from the hen house.  Crack one open and a deep orange yolk sits high atop thick, clear whites.  The yolks taste rich and deep.

I'm still not going to eat brains, but eggs are again my favorite breakfast. 
Saturday, if you're on Bainbridge Island, visit the Farmers' Market for fresh spring greens (like baby arugula) and eggs, then head down to Hitchcock deli for the world's best smoked bacon.  If you have time, drive over to Pane D'amore for a loaf of fresh-baked hearth bread, and go two doors down to the Hey Day farm store for fresh cow's milk cheese.  They've got eggs, too.  Really, really good eggs. 

With booty in your pantry, ten minutes is all you need on Sunday morning to throw together a spectacular simple breakfast.  Spread a slab of toast with soft cheese.  Cook a few slices of bacon and put them on the toast with a pile of greens.  Fry an egg in butter, or the leftover bacon fat, and add it to the pile.  Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.  A drizzle of hot sauce is nice, too.

More, please.