25735 Mon Sep 15 02:00:11 -0700 2003 4 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 103441 11 lucky hounds gathered in Marshall this morning for a 4 star picnic at Hog Island oyster farm. After the 96 degree heat yesterday, I was bracing for an afternoon in the sun, but the fog had rolled in, and we enjoyed clear but cool skies and an unforgettable movable feast of oysters, clams, and the best bread, cheese, and produce the Marin farmers market and Gerhardt's fig tree could provide. Oh, and several bottles of crisp, cool wines, including a slightly fizzy white I'd brought from Switzerland, three Chardonnays from Melanie's collection, a beautiful rose, a bottle of muscadet (probably the best suited to the raw oysters IMO), a prosecco, and a refreshing Pouilly Fume. (For better descriptions, you'll have to wait for someone who knows more about wines than just drinking them.) After a quick lesson from Michelle, we were off and shucking, covering our oven mitts in oyster and poking and prodding and twisting. The first few were painful, requiring frequent tasting breaks. We had oysters on the half shell, with several different bbq sauces and mignonettes, and grilled with butter. At $68 per 100 oysters, we could afford to spend the afternoon, and we were not alone. The picnic tables all filled up with friends, families, real hounds (including one that got away with an ear of our corn!). Salsa music gave our al fresco crowd a steady beat. An enormous yellow squash sweetened up on the grill, as did the just picked, last of season organic corn. Cherry tomatoes, organic strawberries, cheeses from Bodega Goat Cheese and Spring hill plus an herb encrusted affinois and many more. The piece de resistance was Aunt Ruby's manila clams in garlic butter, which we sopped up with sesame levain from Brickmaiden Breads. That and Steve's fingerbowls, which added a touch of class and eau du citron to the whole affair. I'm sure I've left something out, but I won't forget to say thanks again to Melanie, for organizing a relaxing afternoon in a divine spot, where all the right elements came together, with little effort on my part except keeping my plate and glass full. I haven't laughed so much in a long time, and I prescribe a trip out to Hog Island for a reminder of all the great reasons why we live in Northern California. We stopped at the Bovine Bakery in Point Reyes Station on the way home to make sure we wouldn't starve if we hit traffic, and Chow Fun picked up snacks for the long drive back into the fog. I was partial to the ginger cookie, although the chocolate oat thingy was popular and the Dairy Queen seemed awfully happy with her Mexican wedding cookie. By the time I got home, in desperate need of a shower, it was only half an hour until the final event of birthday weekend...dinner at Incanto. Mon Sep 15 02:00:11 -0700 2003 0 Windy 1 103491 Windy, I think you pretty much covered all of the essentials. We had to bring our own wok to prepare the clams. We got there early to stake out a table--around 11am and were the first ones there, but I certainly wouldn't advise arriving later than noon for a good table. Bring your own matches, charcoal, and BBQ tongs. Also, we used kitchen towels, oven mitts, and screwdrivers to shuck the oysters in addition to what Hog Island provided. The towels and mitts were pretty trashed afterwards, but if you had some old ones you don't mind having the scent of oyster forever, it's a good idea for a large group. We did pick up some incredible homemade BBQ sauce at the Marshall general store just down the road (South) from Hog Island. We also noticed they sold the same wonderful bread we'd brought with us from the Marin farmers market as well as a nice selection of local cheeses. The Mexican wedding cookie was good, yes, but I might have preferred it to be a little more crumbly. However, the chocolate-peanut butter oat thingie was over the top exceptional. Mon Sep 15 18:43:58 -0700 2003 103441 0 The Dairy Queen 2 103671 The oyster-thon at Hog Island was one of the most fun summer days of a lifetime! I may have been the only one among us who didn't learn how to shuck oysters...too many of you were kind to pass the opened ones my way. I love the picture below of our picnic group - everyone in the picture is either slurping an oyster, concentrating intently on opening one, or reaching for or handing off an oyster. On the grill in the left bottom corner were the spicy merguez sausages (from Fabrique Delices) and rounds of the golden zucchini squash slathered with olive oil turning brown and tender. The grilled squash with the charry overtones was fab, yet the other part of the squash baked in foil with shallot butter was wonderful too. Uncle Ben had said he had some trepidation about coming along, as oyster shucking was not a skill he'd picked up in his 70+ years. He had thought he might go hungry, but he soon developed the touch under Michelle's expert tutelage. He told me that he showed Auntie Ruby how to do her own. (g) Derek was one of my heroes as he labored over a pile of oysters to open and then cook them on the grill with a dab of the Marshall Store's sauce. Just heated through so they kept their crisp texture, they picked up a smoky nuance that made them very special. I was impressed by the low trays that Rick brought along to make an ice bed for his oysters on the half shell. Michelle's mignonette was tart and winey. We also had the cocktail sauce and the hogwash provided on weekends by HI. Bringing the wok along was an excellent idea. Otherwise we would have lost all the delicious juices from those splendid clams if we had put them directly on the grill. Auntie Ruby has cooked in many different venues, but I imagine this was the first time she's used a wok on a Weber by the sea to cook clams! Luckily we had a bevy of artisan breads along to sop up the garlic butter and clam juices - La Brea, Brickmaiden, Acme baguette, and epines from Boulange de Polk. We also had a sesame cake from Sheng Kee that was lightly sweet with pine nuts. On the cheeseboard, we also had Joe Matos St. George cheese, Mahon from Spain, and a crottin. Gerhard kept us well lubricated with a beautiful Muscadet that was my favorite of the day. The Prosecco was dryer than many, and the Pouilly Fume was particularly perfumey. I hope he'll tell us the producers. Windy's 2001 Chasselas from Switzerland was a lovely example with a bit of petillance conserved under the screw cap (standard closure for Swiss wines of all price ranges). Ben provided a Corbieres rosé that was especially fine and a bottle of Piper Sonoma Brut. The trio of Dehlinger Chardonnays were the 1996, 1997 Unfiltered, and 1998 Reserve. Most prefered the 1996 or the 1998, which was an interesting result since the 1997 is the wine critics' pick of the three. We polished off 150+ oysters and 5 lbs. of manila clams. We also raised $120 for Chowhound.com - thank you all! Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/25623#102733 Image: http://home.earthlink.net/~melainewong/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/windyhogisland.jpg Wed Sep 17 23:59:08 -0700 2003 103491 0 Melanie Wong 1 103743 Windy, DQ, Melanie: Thanks for the great posts. My wife and I live on the Connecticut coast (Stamford) and got a great kick out of your excellent adventure. Pt. Reyes, specifically Tomales Bay, is very special. Thanks for sharing. Regards, --steve Thu Sep 18 18:39:54 -0700 2003 103441 0 Steve 2 104034 You're welcome! Point Reyes National Seashore is one of our country's treasures indeed, as well as the way of life in the small communities that dot the coast. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/25598#102579 Wed Sep 24 04:25:24 -0700 2003 103743 0 Melanie Wong