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So... Have you had enough of winter yet?? It seems like everybody has had a lousy winter so far.. and there is still a ways to go. Up here in the Northwest it has been a mix of lot's of rain, wind, some chilly mornings and did we mention lot's of rain?
On the bright side, our oysters are fantastic at this time of year, with lot's of full, firm meat and hard shells, it's a great time to try something new. As always we invite you to view our
Weekly Oyster Evaluation to see what oysters are showing and eating well.
Our mussels and clams are very sweet this time of year and when combined with some good bread and a nice wine or beer, they make for a great winter time dinner.
For those of you planning on visiting the International Boston Seafood Show, it will be held March 20-22nd. We will be exhibiting again in Booth #950 so let us know and we will have some VIP passes created for you.
Call or Email Keith in the office at Penn Cove Shellfish for more information.
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From One Washington to the Other;
A Special Visit to Penn Cove
by Chef Robert Wiedmaier |
 In January we we able to spend to time here with Chef Robert Wiedmaier and his son Marcel from the Washington D.C. area.
Chef Weidmaier is the owner of 4 of the capitol cities most highly regarded restaurants Marcel's, Brasserie Beck, Brabo, and his newest restaurant Mussel Bar.
We are working on streamling the logistics in order to hopefully provide the best of the west's finest and freshest mussels to the Mussel Bar soon.
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Musselfest Time is Here! | |
The annual Penn Cove Musselfest is just around the corner and we are super excited to get things rolling.
This is the 25th Anniversary of Musselfest and it will be held March 5th-6th in Historic Coupeville on Whidbey Island. Activities include live music all weekend, a mussel eating contest, cooking seminars by top Seattle area chefs, our mussel, wine and beer garden, boat tours of the mussel rafts and many more fun and interesting activities.
This is a great opportunity to come visit the cute seaside community of Coupeville, shop in the art galleries and stores and just have a fun relaxing weekend on Whidbey Island. There is a mussel chowder competition that involves wandering through the local eateries and tasting and voting on your favorite mussel chowder.
You can feel good about having fun in the Mussel, Wine and Beer Garden as the proceeds to to the Boy's and Girl's Club of Coupeville. We couldn't do it without our other sponsors at Sierra-Nevada Brewing and the fine folks at Flyers Brewery.
There will be a mountain bike mussel ride in the with those riders taking part in a poker ride which will can lead to good times later in the Mussel, Wine and Beer Garden.
MusselFest is also a great chance to learn more about Penn Cove Shellfish and the sustainable farming methods employed to grow and distribute our mussels, oysters and clams. For more information about Musselfest you can check out the Musselfest website or call the Musselfest info office at 360-678-5434.
We hope to see you there!
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| Recipe of the Month by Robert Wiedmaier |
From our Guest Chef Robert Wiedmaier one his many ways of serving Mussels.
One Serving
1 pound Penn Cove Mussels
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
Half cup diced plum tomatoes
2 Tbsp capers
2 peeled, sliced shallots
2 Tbsp chopped, smal leaf basil
Half cup dry white wine or vermouth
1 Tbsp olive oil
One whole garic bulb
Fresh baguette
In a pot or heavy pan, sweat shallots and chopped garlic in olive oil.
Add mussels, tomatoes, white wine, capers, pepper and basil. Cover with lid and cook until mussels open up.
Take whole garlic bulb, wrap in foil and cook in oven @ 300 degrees until soft. Remove from oven, cut in half and rub on sliced, toasted baguette.
Cooked mussels can be eaten right from the pot or pan or transferred to a wide rim soup bowl. Use baguette to soak up mussel broth.
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Penn Cove Musselfest video |  |
Here's a short video about the The Penn Cove Mussel Fest and and how we grow our award winning mussels. We hope you enjoy watching this video about
Penn Cove Mussels |
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Oyster of the Month
The Kusshi |
A petite version of our Stellar Bay oyster, they are tray raised to a wonderfully consistent size. As they are grown, the oysters are periodically tumbled which breaks of new shell growth and basically stunts their growth to form a deep cup and hard shell which is easy to shuck. Grown in a deep inlet in a remote area of British Columbia, Canada. The taste is mildly sweet. This 2- 2.5" oyster is perfect for a beginner oyster eater or any oyster aficionado |
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