Clamming, Mussels, and a Fresh Farm and Sea to Table Meal

It’s been just over a week since we got back from our vacation to Boston and Cape Cod and I’m finally getting around to writing about it!

On our first full day in Cape Cod, our friends Justin and Erin took us clamming. We had no idea what fun was in store for us that day! We set out after breakfast to get to our spot on Buzzard’s Bay during low tide. We were able to collect one bucket of clams with Justin and Erin’s license so we all got to work and filled the bucket pretty fast. The kids thought it was great digging for theses little “treasures”. E’s personal mission was to find a pearl. He of course didn’t come across any pearl filled oysters (we warned him in advance it was highly unlikely that he’d find one) but he did find an oyster and lots of nice shells.

After we filled our bucket with clams we took a little walk along the beach toward the Maritime Academy to climb on the rocks and see the large ship that was docked there. On our way I noticed tons of mussels that had washed up to shore.

Justin said I could take them so I got to work cleaning off some of the gunk and filling a smaller bucket with these little beauties.

For a little background…I fell in love with mussels when we traveled to Croatia a few years ago and you could find fresh and delicious mussels at many restaurants. A fellow traveler recommended I try them since it was a great time of year for mussels in Croatia. I heeded their advice and it was pretty much love at first bite. Fresh mussels are key of course but the broth / sauce really make (or break) the dish in my opinion. I had mussels one time here in the States after we got back but they were nothing compared to the ones I had in Croatia (no surprise that it’s kind of hard to find fresh seafood in Ohio :). So, I was thrilled to find these mussels on the beach and get to prepare them for dinner later that night. I found a simple, delicious and garlicky recipe in one of Erin and Justin’s cookbooks. They turned out great and C even gobbled them up like they were candy! She also joined us in eating raw oysters. She’s definitely a girl after my own heart in the food department.

On our way back to the house we stopped at a small fish / seafood shop to get more oysters and then Bay End Farm for some fresh greens, sugar snap peas, bread, tomatoes, and kohlrabi (first time I’d ever had kohlrabi and I loved it!). I made the beautiful salad pictured below with some of the tomatoes, peas, greens and kohlrabi for lunch. I also tried the kohlrabi roasted with a little EVOO, salt and pepper. It tasted great this way too.

Later that evening we got to work preparing our meal that included everything we collected and bought fresh that day. The men also went out to get fresh lobsters for each of us and Erin made us mojitos with mint from their garden. Erin and I had a great time reminiscing about the hours we spent in the kitchen as girls concocting all sorts of culinary creations – particularly our homemade peanut butter cups (in giant muffin tins!!). We made way too much food that night but it was a great experience and we had lots of yummy leftovers. It was a true farm and sea to table meal and it felt good to be eating foods that were so fresh and straight from the source.

It was a day full of adventure and fun that ended with a fresh and satisfying meal shared with great friends!