COOKINGWITHCAMPICHE
Oysters with friends
BY DAVID CAMPICHE
For several days the weather remained
glorious. Folks gathered and talked of an
early spring, of seeds and planting in the
garden. My wife, Laurie, and I drove to
Cannon Beach to visit with friends.
On came the rain, pushed by hard wind
and dashing expectations of a pleasant
morning walk, but we remained optimistic,
finding beauty in the many shades of gray
and silver.
The day before this sojourn, under a blue
sapphire sky, I extricated 18 oysters out of
the gumbo mud from the Nahcotta Tide-
lands Interpretive Site on the Long Beach
Peninsula. Opened them on the spot —
no easy accomplishment, rinsed them and
placed them in a glass jar. That next day I
shared them with our friends. I’ve written
about this opportunity to help yourself to 18
oysters. The shells must remain on the beds
for propagation.
A fresh Willapa Bay oyster is a rare treat,
particularly in the winter and spring.
But herein lies several benefits of hard
weather: Four friends huddled inside, pre-
pared and ate simple, wonderful food —
soup, salad, homemade wheat bread with
Brie cheese, and the oysters, accompanied
by a dry, crisp pinot gris, the perfect match
for raw oysters. Laurie baked two loaves of
sourdough wheat bread from a recipe she
found by Michael Pollan — generally an
inspiration. We concocted a simple tomato
soup and threw together a salad. Very little
is better. So blow winds, huff and puff. We
are safe and content in our wooden house
with a fire on the hearth and lovely friends
with whom to share a meal.
Spicy Mignonette
Ingredients
• ¼ cup Balsamic vinegar
• Salt or soy sauce to taste
• ¼ cup of Japanese rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh horseradish
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black
peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
or red onions, minced
• ½ teaspoon of red chili flakes or a
pinch of chipotle or ground Hatch chilis
Directions
Mix ingredients in a small bowl. Place
each of the raw oysters in a separate oys-
ter shell — we keep a bag full of clean
and scrubbed shells in our pantry. Pour the
16 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Photos by David Campiche
A delicious winter recipe for tomato soup.
horseradish mixture over the oysters and
slurp away.
Tomato Soup
Ingredients
• One onion, small diced
• Four garlic cloves, fine minced
• Two stalks of celery, fine sliced
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Four ripe tomatoes, diced or
hand-crushed
• One roasted red pepper, peeled and
chopped
• 4 cups of homemade chicken or
vegetarian stock
• 2 tablespoons of fresh basil, fine
chopped
• 1 tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar
• ½ teaspoon of red chili flakes
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Dash of salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until
translucent. Continue with the celery. Add
the crushed tomatoes and the roasted and
peeled pepper. You can substitute the fresh
tomatoes with a 16-ounce can of crushed
tomatoes or use both. Marry in the stock
(homemade makes a great difference and
carries no sodium), vinegar, chili flakes (to
your taste) and Balsamic. Salt and sugar,
again, to taste. Using either an immersion
ABOVE: Oyster flats at the Nahcotta Tidelands
Interpretive Site. RIGHT: A delicious dish
prepared with fresh, raw Willapa Bay oysters.
blender or a standard blender, swirl away
until the soup is smooth and semi-thick.
Bring to full heat and serve. At the last min-
ute, garnish with chopped basil.
A dollop of creme fraiche adds a bit of
richness.
Even better, some crumbled blue cheese
will inspire any critic.