Wow am I happy! Do you ever have that really content satisfying feeling after putting together some new food dishes for yourself? Well I want to share my experience.
Yesterday was the last of 2 days of razor clam digging on the Kalaloch beaches. This was the first “dig” in a long time because the beaches have been closed for about 5 years to try and help the razor clam numbers grow. For work I had to patrol the beaches for the last 2 days, checking peoples counts and making sure they were following regulations. It was a good shift, a little variety from the past shifts (which is a big part of being a Ranger (Variety)). I have my shellfish license and watching all the people (hundreds) have fun with there families and kids really made me wish there was one more day open, maybe a day I would have off. Well.. the tide was a late one, close to 7:30pm and by then it was already really dark, most everyone had left. The other Rangers and I made a few final sweeps across the beach and headed out. My shift ended at 9:30pm and I decided to throw on my waders and head lamp and make a dash back to the beach to try and dig my limit.
While combing the shoreline for “nipples” (razor clam lingo for the little hole they make in the surface of the sand) I notice maybe 3 other lights out on the beach looking for the prized clams. It was so dark I couldn’t see much more than my light showed me. One of the lights made it my way. It was a gentlemen who worked at the local correction facility and got off work late both last night and tonight. The guy shared that last night he couldn’t find any in the dark, uh ohh.
We worked together and had a great time and great conversation as we took turns digging as we came across many “nipples” ☺ We both limited after about an hour, it was awesome. I can’t wait to take Janelle clam digging, I know she would have a hoot!
Well if any of you have ever caught razor clams, well they aren’t like normal clams where you leave them in a bucket of water to clean themselves. No, you have to basically dissect them to clean them and take them from the shell (creating razor clam steaks). That was what I was up to tonight after work. Just after work I helped my Ranger friend with her bike and looking at her ocean view yard I made a discovery. I saw my first King Bolete and a couple admiral boletes. You may say, HUH?? Boletes have another name you may have heard… Porcini, the king boletes are the most prized and many say the best mushroom overall. They have a nice nutty flavor to them, so I have heard. That was my second project clean and prepare these boletes.
I cooked a few of the razor clams. What I did was I dipped them in egg yolk and then in a flower mixed with many seasoning and fried them golden brown and wow did they taste good. Then I sautéed a little bit of the two different boletes, separately, but both in butter, garlic and salt and pepper.
I am telling you these to “appetizers” were amazing. There is a wonderful nuttiness to the boletes and there texture is great. The razor clams were nice and tender in the middle with a crispy outside. I had to maintain my self not to cook up them all!
I am looking forward to bringing some home to share with Janelle tomorrow for dinner. There is something really satisfying to finding or catching your own food. I have put a lot of time into identifying mushrooms and I have learned a whole lot (and yes mom I am really careful). If I had a choice to be doing one thing it would be to be with my wife. If she wasn’t around, my second choice would be to be doing something in the outdoors. I feel really lucky to have so many amazing blessings in my life!!
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