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WSJ OP-ED

Keep Europe’s Sick Shellfish Out of America – WSJ 11/15/22, 12:08 PM

https://www.wsj.com/articles/keep-europes-sick-shellfish-out-of-america-11558479597
OPINIONCOMMENTARY
Keep Europe’s Sick Shellfish Out of America
Oyster herpes won’t make you ill, but it’s an ecological threat.
By Michael Osinski and Isabel Osinski
May 21, 2019 6:59 pm ET

The late bloom

Start me! Cat-Stevens-Morning-Has-Broken

Usually, by mid-April, there is a noticeable algae bloom in the bay and fruit trees are in full bloom. Not this year – an unremitting succession of nor’easters has extended the winter and kept water temperatures at 40 degrees. Nonetheless, we have used our time, when not repairing battered docks and cables, to march on as if it were spring. Extensive use of wetsuits and an inexplicable affinity for working in cold water has gotten whipped the farm into shape.
We have 70% of the new cabling installed and about one third of our 15 month old oysters sorted and up on the kushi lines. Fortunately, our customers in the city are demanding our oysters, so, despite the cold drizzle, we are suiting up and sending oysters to Manhattan today.

Who Oysters

  • Riad & Lee

first 2018 blog post

It’s Spring 2018 at Widow’s Hole. Susanna is home from Cornell and Merc was just accepted to Yale. All four of us hauled in cages of 16 month old oysters and ran them through the sorted, yielding 40 baskets which we will put on the kushi lines tomorrow. The weather held off long enough for us to finish. It’s been raining now for hours, giving us time to rebuild the hacked website.

Beef with Oyster Sauce

Start me! JAMBALAYA-FATS-DOMINO

    We frequently cook with our Widow’s Hole Oysters.  While steak and oysters are a well-known combination, we take it a step further and make a oyster liqueur reduction when we stir-fry steak.  Our ‘secret ingredient’, we’ve found,  makes our meals delectable, and most guests can’t guess what the secret flavor is.  They just say ‘Delicious!’  In this dish, our oysters crown the steak.

  Here’s our steak reduced with the liqueor of the Widow’s Hole Oysters:

  • Shuck 2- 3 oysters per oyster-eating person.  Strain liquid and set aside.
  • Prepare your favorite vegetable beef-stir recipe and to the beef when pinker than you like, add:
  •  the liqeuor from the oysters.
  • Plate the beef and vegetables, make a well in the center and gently dump in the   shucked oysters.

Our beef stir – fry summertime version:  Marinate thinly sliced  beef ( skirt, flank, ribeye, or any steak).  The marinade:  soysauce, a splash of sesame oil and generous pinches of white pepper.  To pan/wok swirl in hot oil then add a nob of ginger, thinly sliced, and a half of a Chinese pickled turnip, diced finely.  Stir, then when very hot, make a well in the center of the wok/pan and into the very hot oil, dump in beef.  Resist stirring the mound of meat, instead,  let it sizzle like a large pancake.  Peak under & when browned and  the meat on top is still rawish,  add garlic,  THEN break up, boldly fragment the meat.  Add oyster liqueor & wine.  Stir through, then remove meat.  Reheat wok/pan, add oil, then stir-fry vegetables. (  A tasty  summertime veggie blend is  tomatoes, hardbeancurd , onions & basil. )   Add previously cooked meat mixture to vegetables.  Make sure there is plenty of gravy.  Heat through, then plate.  Make a well in the meat for the warmed oysters, with care, accent the oysters minutely with lime zest.

Hurriedly bring the plate to the table – most people gasp at the sight! …and moan with delight .

Oysters Rockefeller

Screen shot 2014-04-14 at 2.32.08 PMWhen chefs visit our farm, we welcome them with trays of Widow’s Hole Oysters Rockefeller and flutes of champagne. This recipe finds favor with those sad people who claim not to like oysters.

Recipe :
Steam spinach, if spinach is unavailable use any fresh leafy green.  In a pinch use frozen.

Puree spinach and lettuce

Make white sauce (butter, flour). If crowd appears difficult to please, use some bacon grease.

Add to the pan of white sauce the pureed spinach & lettuce mixture.

Add to the white sauce liquor from your shucked oysters. A fresh oyster should be full of liquid. If not, be wary.

IMPORTANT: Taste. Add a dash of worcestshire and 2 splashes of Pastis, and a few gratings of nutmeg.
Taste again. If not zingy, with caution add a few sprinkles cumin or dribbles of lemon juice.

  • Assemble oysters on a oven baking tray
  • Cover shucked in the half-shell WIDOW’S HOLE OYSTERS  generously with spinach sauce, sealingl in the oyster
  • Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
  • There is a debate amongst oyster farmers if the grated Romano goes above or below the breadcrumbs.

Add lemon zest, if desired.

Broil for 9 minutes or until the gills of of the oysters curl and top is a crispy golden brown.

(Optional – hot sauce, paprika)

Oysters & Grilled Sausage

pair with  Bordeaux Wine
Screen shot 2014-04-14 at 11.07.19 AM In Archachon, France, local oysters are served with a grilled pork sausage accompanied by their regional Bordeaux and a crusty loaf of bread.

Chefs have sat in our farm kitchen for hours eating this classic combination.

Unsurprisingly, this combo is on many menus in NYC, and  chefs always awe us with their versions.

Recipe:

Grill thin sausages ( get a variety  if you like)

Shuck oysters, 3 per person. Have on hand 2 extra per person, shucked.

Baguette, sliced, of which the number of pieces should be the same as the number of partakers plus 1 extra. Break the one extra into 3 pieces.

Arrange  sausages & oysters on platters accompanied with

Lemons, hot pepper vinaigrette or your favorite sauce and
and perhaps an extra bottle of wine.

 

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