Hama Hama® Oyster Blog

A couple of weeks ago Adam looked out his window and was surprised to see a buck swimming up the Canal. It happened to be the first day of hunting season, which might explain why the deer took to the salt water.

The deer got out of the water near the oyster farm, only to be chased right back into the Canal by a wayward Area Dog, seen below reclining with squash:

And then we got worried that the exhausted deer would drown, so Nathan and Roberto took off in the little yellow boat to steer it towards shore. Eventually they got it back to shore, and it ran safely across the highway and up into the woods.

In an unrelated Area Dog story: we did make London Lennie’s oyster stuffing recipe, and we all thought that it was delicious but that it would have been even more delicious with bacon (or if it had actually been baked inside the turkey). However, like many seafood dishes, it wasn’t very tasty as a leftover. So we tried to feed it to Area Dog, who’s a notorious oyster hound. But the dog wouldn’t touch it. Maybe it was the celery?

Oyster Stuffing at London Lennies:

London Lennies Shuck and Bake Oyster Stuffing Recipe

• 1 lb cubed bread, including crust
• 1 pint fresh raw oysters
• 4-8 tablespoons of butter
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 cup of chopped onions
• 1/2 cup of minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon minced oregano
• 1 tablespoon minced sage
• 1 tablespoon minced thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup oyster juice from the freshly opened oysters (oyster broth)
• 2 eggs, well beaten (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F. Toast bread until golden brown on middle rack. Put bread pieces in bowl.

Meanwhile, heat butter until melted and foam subsides. Add onions and celery and cook until tender. (5 mins) Remove from heat and stir in spices.

Add bread crumbs and drained oysters. Toss well until stuffing is moist (but not packed together) and stir in eggs (optional).

Stuff into the turkey while moist.

* If cooked in casserole dish, place in 350F oven for 25-40minutes, or until heated through to form crust on the outsides

Just a reminder: orders for Thanksgiving need to be placed before Monday the 23rd for 2nd day shipping, and before Tuesday the 24th for overnight shipping.

Regular smoked oysters and 1/2 gallons of medium shucked oysters are on sale from now until…  tomorrow! Order soon!

Wondering how to incorporate oysters into your Thanksgiving meal? Here’s  a smoked oyster stucky rice stuffing recipe from Gourmet Magazine (RIP).

Today our friend Preston stopped by with some wild morel and porcini mushrooms he’d recently picked somewhere east of the Cascade Mountains. Preston– who probably knows all of the Olympic Peninsula’s sweet spots for both wild mushrooms and good surf–  runs a local gourmet food supply company called Wild West. He stops by once a week to deliver fresh halibut and salmon from Neah Bay and the Quilleute River. He also picks up HH oysters to sell to restaurants and farmer’s markets on the north end of the Peninsula.

Close-up of porcini mushroom gills.

Since it was lunchtime, and we were hungry, we pan-fried some morels in a little oil, then added oysters, salt, pepper, and eventually eggs.

Our kitchen is set up to fillet fish, not mushrooms, and we were a little short on paring knives.

recipe by request.

This oyster stew is a family favorite… with both Adam and Helena claiming credit for it. Probably it was a joint creation.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 2 to 3 potatoes
• 1 quart chicken stock (or enough to cover vegetables and make it soupy)
• 1 pint Hama Hama Oysters, drained (making this stew with any other brand of oyster is guaranteed to ensure failure)
• 1 tsp curry powder (or to taste)
• 1 tsp ground cumin (ditto above)
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• salt and pepper

Procedure:

Chop the vegetables to desired size (we prefer large chunks for the stew), and simmer in chicken stock until almost tender. Add oysters and season with curry, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring back to a simmer, and cook until the oysters’ edges curl and they are plump and firm. (Depending on the size of the oysters, you may want to cut them in half.) Add coconut milk. Reheat but don’t boil. Taste for flavor and add more seasoning if necessary.

We’ve heard rumors and murmurings about oyster ice cream for several years. Apparently it’s big in Japan, and was popular with Dolley Madison (wife of President James).

But we tip our hats to Lorraine Eaton, a reporter with The Virginian-Pilot, for actually making the stuff. Lorraine made an oyster soup out of cream, oyster liquor, ham, flour, and onions, and then chilled it overnight and put it in an ice cream maker. She reports that it looked like coffee ice cream, but she wasn’t brave enough to taste it herself. Instead she fed it to her coworkers, who gave it mixed results.

Read Lorraine’s story and get the recipe here.

The image below is from TASTE WITH THE EYES, a beautiful and delicious food blog.

It’s a panko-encrusted Hama Hama oyster topped with cilantro, sliced serrano chiles, cabbage, and ají amarillo crema, and then wrapped in a homemade tortilla. Stop by the site for a description of how to make it and lots of other amazing food.

Larry from New Jersey had some clams, oysters, and smoked salmon sent to him as a birthday gift. We’d like to eat at Larry’s house some day; he sounds like someone who knows food. Here’s how he prepared the seafood:

The Manila clams were simplicity itself. I just rinsed them in a colander, and added them to some simmering tomato-basil spaghetti sauce. I have a very good Italian deli nearby, which provided the sauce, though supermarket sauce would have done. After I added the clams to the sauce, I covered the saucepan, and they opened within six minutes or so. Then I just served them over some thin spaghetti. Really good!

I served the oysters three different ways – raw, fried and broiled. They were wonderful raw, with a little lemon. To fry them, I rolled them in some Progresso Italian bread crumbs, adding some extra thyme, and sautéed them in some olive oil in a non-stick skillet, turning them once. They got nice and crunchy on the outside, but tender inside. To broil them, I just placed them in a little olive oil in a steel skillet, gave them a shake of paprika, and under the gas we go. They were done in less than five minutes. I let them cool a bit and served them over a green salad. Yummy!

I also enjoyed the natural smoked salmon. I put some in an omelet and had some over a salad a second day. Great stuff!

Thanks again for another stellar batch of oysters. They were fantastic as usual. I’m finding it very interesting how the oysters go through their seasonal cycles. Each month they are slightly different, and now that I’m endulging more often I can begin to tell the difference. In previous months, they seemed to have more liquor in them, clear liquid, silvery in color. As you mentioned in the card, they are more plump now, less liquor, a little more sweet. I’m going to try some of the larger ones for the BBQ as you suggested, later in the season.

Ingredients:

• Meat from one Dungeness crab, picked
• 1 cup bread crumbs, plus additional for coating
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
• 1 large egg, blended
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Spike seasoning
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• ¼ tsp dry mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, blend together all ingredients except for the crabmeat. Then, once everything is mixed together, stir in the crab meat.

Shape into cakes—this should yield about 6 cakes—the cakes will be very soft. If you have time/energy to put the breadcrumbs into a food processor instead of just cutting them up into squares, it may make the crab cakes firmer.

As you form them, place the cakes on a bed of breadcrumbs and pat breadcrumbs over them. Let them stand for up to one hour in a refrigerator, loosely covered. (Another place to save time if you’re short on it.)

Saute the crab cakes in a mixture of butter and olive oil over moderately high heat for two or three minutes on a side, or until they are browned. Transfer them as they are done to a heated platter. Serve with lemon wedges.

NOTE: If you’re one of those people who are scared of mayonnaise, feel free to reduce the amount of called for in this recipe. This may also make the crab cakes hold together better. Let us know if you have any luck with this.

(Broccoli not included)