Chasing Soft Shells

Last week the soft shells eluded us Down East, on Harkers Island. We were told they had headed north.

And sure 'nuff, on a sailing trip this weekend, a few hours further north where the Rappahannock River meets the great Chesapeake Bay, we found 'em, in the lovely, little historic town of Urbanna, VA.

In a small shack near the dinghy dock, "peelers" were being watched 24/7 in filtered and aerated tanks. As soon as they slipped out of their hard old coats, they were snagged, packed between layers of newspaper, and set into a refrigerator.

We snagged a dozen ourselves, carefully transporting them back to the boat for a gourmet lunch indeed.

PAPER NUGGETS

Spry at 82, and quite talkative, the silver-haired lady with painted fingernails and in white fishing boots clipped claws and legs from "paper shells," crabs who've shed their hard shells and gone beyond the "nekkid" state of being a soft shell, to building back their crusty armor.

Born on Tangier Island, the island across the bay inside the Eastern Shore that's much like the sandy spits of land that make up NC's Outer Banks, her father, brothers, son and just about anyone in her family have always fished and crabbed.

Clipping the apron, removing the lungs and all the vestiges, she was stripping the paper shells down to their bare innards. Only tender cartilage remained between chunks of that famed, delicate blue crabmeat. The resulting round "nugget" would be deep-fat fried.

"It was something my son came up with," she said. Most paper shells are just tossed back dead into the water, so this was a way to use the still tasty meat. She would freeze what she had prepared that day, adding it to others stocked up for the annual Oyster Festival held each November in Urbanna, when these tasty morsels would be fried and sold under her family tent.

GRILLING SOFT SHELLS

Back on board, we considered our options for cooking our nabbed soft shell treats. My favorite way to cook them is to saute them in butter, but it can be a rather messy transaction with butter splatters when the crabs spit and pop. So we opted for the grill attached to the side of the boat, which would keep any splatters out over the water.

Oh yum. Those soft shells were worth any splatters of rain we endured on our sail, any wind on our nose, any chop in the Chesapeake. Nothing could be finer than soft shells, even if they weren't in Carolina!

Here's the recipe from THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK: Recipes & Traditions from NC's Barrier Islands, by Elizabeth Wiegand, Globe Pequot Press, 2008. (c)

GRILLED SOFT SHELLS with CREOLE SAUCE

Hot and crunchy is how these soft shells come straight off the grill. This is one of the easiest ways to prepare this seasonal treat, and allows the succulent texture and taste of the crabmeat to shine.

Simply serve 2 to 3 soft shells per person over a bed of lightly dressed greens. We found using a perforated grill pan kept the crab legs from falling through the grates and breaking off. If you prefer to leave out the hot sauce, it will still be delicious.

12 medium soft shells, cleaned

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

12 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 ½ teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco, or to taste

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat grill.
2. Pat cleaned soft shells dry, and lay them in a shallow dish.
3. Over medium heat, melt butter. Add garlic and stir for about one minute. Remove from heat and add the hot sauce and lemon juice. Stir to mix.
4. Brush the butter sauce over both sides of each soft shell, then dribble excess over the legs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Allow soft shells to sit until the grill is ready, or about 10 minutes.
5. When grill is medium hot, place crabs evenly over grill without touching. Close the lid and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, depending on thickness. Turn the crabs over, and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until crabs have gotten a bit crisp and golden brown.

YIELD: 4 to 6 servings

I GOT CRABS

I had a big, significant birthday this week. One present I had to open on the spot because it came straight from the fridge. Inside was one of my favorite foods ever......crab claws.

These blue crabs were just caught in pots baited with mullet and thrown over their dock at the mouth of the White Oak River outside of Swansboro, NC. Norva boiled up a mess of them for a magnificent crab dip for her dinner party, and Mike got the job of "picking" the backs, saving the claws for another event - my Birthday Gift! What a great present for this foodie!

Bring out the newspaper and the cocktail sauce and crab crackers and forget the damned candles, the number of which could burn the house down! What a treat!

TIS THE SEASON

When the waters start to warm, the crabs crawl out from the mucky muck of the sounds and creeks where they've spent the winter. Folks all up and down the Carolina coast start baiting their crab pots and throwing them into their favorite spots usually sometime around Tax Day, April 15th, or earlier.

This year, the crabs were on the move a bit earlier. On April 8th, I was down in Southern Pines with THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK to "advise" participants on the Sandhills Farm to Table Co-op about what to do with the wonderful bounty supplied by Core Sound Seafood, a wonderful CSF or community supported fishery that delivers all over the state. Eddie and Alison Willis of Harkers Island brought some very active jimmies, male crabs, along with flounder and scallops for co-op members.

Eddie is the fourth generation to fish from Harkers Island. He and Alison tend to crab pots, hunt down clams in the wild (rather than farm), and tend to soft shells 24-7 during the season.

There's an old saying that the soft shells crabs start coming in at the first full moon in May. That would be May 17th, but already the soft shells have headed north from Core Sound toward the Pamlico and Albermarle Sounds. Just this past weekend I stopped in to see the Willis's soft shell operation at Mr. Big's Seafood, to find them gone like the soft shells, in search of more peelers.

PEELERS PEEL OUT

"Peelers," what those in the know call crabs ready to shed or peel their coats, have had a very early season.

But the hard crabs are out there and are filling up baskets headed to markets here and further north in the Chesapeake.

There's nothing finer than spending an evening after boiling up a mess of crabs doused with Old Bay, or as the old timers do, with onions and potatoes and sometimes corn. Spread newspapers on the table, melt some butter and dish up some cocktail sauce, then sit, pick and enjoy while sipping on a cold beer.

DO YOUR OWN CRAB BOIL

adapted from THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK: Recipes & Traditions from NC's Barrier Islands by Elizabeth Wiegand, Globe Pequot Press, 2008.

Boil up a big pot of live crabs, spread them on newspapers and provide pliers, lobster crackers, small hammers, and plenty of towels to extract the marvelous meat from the bellies and claws. A meal will take hours and dozens of crabs, so make sure you’ve got some good conversations going.

And picking crabs yourself will earn newfound respect for the art and hard labor required for providing cleaned, cracked crabmeat in one-pound containers. Just decades ago, the older women in outlying communities of the real Down East, like Smyrna and Atlantic, spent hours each day, sitting and chatting and carrying on while cracking crab for commercial distributors. Now, women from the Yucatan in Mexico come up by the busload to spend each season standing for hours at huge metal tables, cracking and extracting crabmeat.

Big pot 2/3 full of hot water

3 Tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning

1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper

12 live crabs

melted butter

cocktail sauce

1. Bring water to boil. Add Old Bay and crushed red pepper. Stir. Add crabs, reduce heat to medium. Cover and boil for five to 10 minutes. Drain crabs into sink or pluck from water and place in extra large bowl.

2. On the table, have lots of small knives, forks, pliers, lobster crackers or small hammers and a roll of paper towels. Have small bowls of melted butter and cocktail sauce within easy reach of each person.

3. Place crabs directly on the newspaper. Let guests have at it, let conversations roll, and hope no screaming babies demand attention, for you’ll have to wash up first.

Serves 4 to 6

THE BEST LAMB MONEY CAN BUY

Julia Child walked up behind me, and looked over the buffet table laden with sliced lamb roasts. "Ooohed," she cooed in that famous weird voice. "That's not lamb, that's mutton!" She turned and looked at me, and asked, "Can't you smell the fat?"

She then leaned in and whispered, "Americans just don't know that lamb is supposed to be harvested while young, while still small and tender." Julia had taken a shine to me at this food writer's conference because I am six feet two, the height she used to be, and wore big shoes like she did. I was just in awe, struck by her consummate interest and passion for foods, in her late 80s. I wanna be like her when I grow up!

I wish I could have introduced Julia to Craig Rogers, the shepherd presiding over a flock of 600 Texel and Katahdin blended sheep, bred for their fat. His sheep graze on rye, tasty white and red clover, and timothy or orchard grass seeded on rolling hills that butt up next to the Blue Ridge mountains in Patrick Springs in southwest Virginia, and are kept in line with border collies that Rogers breeds and competes. Thus the name of his farm - Border Springs Farm.

CRAIG ROGERS, SHEPHERD, PhD

He's such a jolly fellow who truly loves what he's doing that I refer to him as "Mr. Rogers" in THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK. But Dr. Rogers is more like it, as he is a former dean of engineering. He and his wife, Joan, bought the farm for horses when he got a job at VA Tech. On campus one day, they both watched a demo with border collies, and well, a dog or two was brought to the farm. To compete, these super smart dogs need something to herd, so thus, six sheep joined the farm. But as Craig says, his competitive spirit got in the way. The more sheep trainers had, the better their dogs did, and so more sheep were added.

But then what to do with all those sheep?

Well, why not raise them for food?

BRED FOR FAT

Julia Child would have loved the lamb from Border Springs Farm, especially their fat.

Craig sought out breeds that would produce a good fat profile and yet have a mild flavor. He like the Katahdin breed because they shed their wool and thus he would not have to shear them. They "...don't have a lot of lanolin, which is where the musky taste comes from in the fat. But the meat tastes too mild," he said in a recent Washington Post profile. So they are sired by Texels, who provide an earthy flavor.

Their offspring are weaned naturally, then grass-fed on that gourmet salad bar Craig re-seeds every other year. They're slaughtered at between seven and 10 months, when they are just under 100 pounds.

Their meat is just fabulous. It's full of flavor that's sweet and not at all muttony, and nicely marbled with a mild, creamy fat. Craig says the thick layer of fat on the racks are used by some chefs to make bacon! And unlike some pasture-raised meat, it is not so lean that it requires slow and low cooking. He takes exception to that general rule, and says that other farmers must not be providing good grasses for their animals.

Notable chefs in New York, Washington DC, Richmond, Atlanta and other Southern cities receive lamb from Border Springs Farm, some hand-delivered by Craig. You may also order from his website, www.borderspringsfarm.com

LAMBS ARE JUST TOO CUTE

Yes, lambs are cute, as well as delicious. So how can we rectify our human consumption?

Craig's farm and lamb meat are Animal Welfare Approved, which means the animals are treated humanely at all times. The lambs at Border Springs Farm are treated with respect and lovingly attended. Happy animals make good meat, Craig says. And he and Joan bring lambs into their kitchen and bottle-feed those rejected by their mothers. Those with names become pets. Note that Joan is a vegetarian.

As the Native Americans did, it behooves us to give thanks and our respect to those animals sacrificed for us.

OUR BLUE RIDGE

Craig appeared this week on Roanoke's WSLS 10 noontime show, OUR BLUE RIDGE. See video footage of his gorgeous farm, and his thoughtful comments.

http://www2.wsls.com/lifestyles/2011/apr/21/border-springs-farm-ar-987529/

RECIPES

A food writer told me recently that Craig loves to cook as much as he does raising his lamb and training his dogs. And it's true, he says with a laugh. He shared recipes for lamb burgers and lamb meatloaf that are just dynamite in THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK.

At the bottom of the taping below, you'll find his recipe for his version of rack of lamb, as well as mine. Craig sears his rack, then finishes it by roasting in the oven.

Watch me on the same segment of OUR BLUE RIDGE showing how to execute Craig's recipe.

http://www2.wsls.com/lifestyles/2011/apr/21/rack-lamb-elizabeth-wiegand-ar-987517/

GRILLING A RACK OF LAMB

Here's our favorite way of preparing a rack of lamb, by grilling. First, the meaty part is rubbed with olive oil, then coated with chopped herbs and garlic, and set aside to marinate before grilling. RECIPE FOLLOWS!

GRILLED RACK OF LAMB

© Elizabeth Wiegand, author THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK

1 rack of lamb, 8 frenched ribs

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or oregano

1 to 2 tablespoons minced garlic, or to taste

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

aluminum foil

1. Preheat charcoal or gas grill.

2. Coat lamb with olive oil.

3. Mix herbs and garlic together on a cutting board or plate, then press both sides of the lamb rack in the mixture.

4. Cut small squares of aluminum foil, and wrap the end of each exposed bone to prevent charring.

5. Let lamb sit at room temperature for about an hour, or marinate in herb mixture in the refrigerator for up to six hours.

6. Place lamb on grill, fat side down, and cook until nicely browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Watch for fat flare-ups. Turn and cook until a thermometer reads about 130 for medium rare (the best temp for lamb!), for another 8 to 10 minutes.

7. Remove lamb from grill and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. Slice between the bones, and serve.

YIELD: 4 servings (2 slices each)

RAMPS!

THE HUNT STARTED WITH MORELS . . .

We were looking for morels. I'm sure I should look for "morals," too, but last week when Alan Muskat lead another couple and I out into the woods near Barnardsville, he thought we just might find this coveted gastronomic treat, even though it was a bit early in the season for them.

As soon as we got out of his car at his friend's farm, he gave us a challenge: Find a mushroom. Alan is known as Asheville's Mushroom Man, the one who forages for chicken-in-the-woods, lobster mushrooms, morels and other gourmet treats for local chefs, and leads folks on mushroom hunts along the Blue Ridge.

And that's when I discovered how hidden and camouflaged wild mushrooms can be. If they had been a snake, I'd been bitten. Brown, floppy fungi, about ten in all, were just up under our noses and I must admit I don't remember their names. But he placed them in his basket along with some creasy greens and dandelion leaves, to add to his own sauteed dinner, foraged for "free" out in the wilds, as per his usual.

We trudged up a steep driveway to a house that he once lived in. It's being torn down now, its gardens abandoned, with no one to appreciate the bright yellow sundrop blooms. And that's when one of us spotted the gray morel nestled among fall's leftover leaves. Note "the." For that was the last of morels we were to see, despite our hopes.

A gray morel, one of three varieties found in the Blue Ridge

Alan led us up steep ridges and down to a valley floor where it took little to imagine that's where the early Native Americans would have camped, right beside the knobby tree that signaled the headwaters of a prominent creek. No morels, but we found acorns to taste, a spice berry tree just leafing out, and more cressie greens along a tiny stream. All of which we tasted. And that was my biggest "take-away" from this outing, that there are lot of things that grow wild that are there for the eating - IF you know what's what, and what's toxic.

Completing the seemingly miles-long hike up and down steep hills, we came upon the backside of the farm's livestock barn. As we stood talking, someone pointed at a "stand" of bright green across the hillside. We sauntered over. Were they daylilies left from someone's forgotten garden? Or better yet, were they ramps, that odiferous but tasty springtime treat?

Either way, Alan would eat them. Daylilies are delicious chopped and sauteed, he says. And if they were ramps, well, we had hit a motherlode, as there were several large gatherings of greens spread among the bare trees.

The beautiful dark green leaves of ramps remind you that they are a member of the lily family. Chewing on one, I could definitely taste the oniony-garlicky flavor that is unique to ramps. I laughed, remembering when one old mountain fellow told me that he had been sent home from school because of his highly odiferous breath after finding and eating a "bait" of ramps.

We had only knives with us, so with no way to dig up the bulbs, we could only harvest the leaves and stems down into the moist, loamy earth. And that's just as well. Ramps are being somewhat depleted from their natural growing habitats, so it's recommended that just the leaves be harvested, or in the very least to only take a few of the bulbs to ensure future growth.

Kneeling on the soft earth, carefully harvesting the pungent leaves, was a rather sensuous experience, one that I know has been repeated through the ages. I felt encased within that "circle of life," gathering food out in the wild. Alan just shook his head. It's just there for the taking, and it's his mission to educate the rest of us.

Alan Muskat, Asheville's Mushroom Man, harvesting wild ramps

WHAT TO DO WITH RAMPS

I doubled bagged those leaves before putting them into my ice chest. I had a few days left before getting home, and didn't want to stink up the car, as I had once when given a few ramp bulbs.

So what to do with my ramps?

We had some leftover cooked potatoes, so I chopped up a few of the whole leaves and stems, and added them to the potatoes while they were being sauteed in olive oil. I replaced onions and garlic with the ramps while making shrimp and grits. We coated some leaves with olive oil, then placed them on the grill with a rack of lamb. My grillmeister misunderstood and they became charred but still tasty as a bed for the lamb.

RECIPE

And there's a great recipe for Rampalicious Chicken Soup in my book, THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK, which you will find below. Can't get ramps? Then substitute those strong smelling green onions you'll find at the farmers market during the spring and early summer. It's a bit involved, but we love this hearty soup.

RAMPALICIOUS CHICKEN SOUP from THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK, by Elizabeth Wiegand, Globe Pequot Press, 2010.

Hearty, spicy, and soul-satisfying, this chicken soup could almost be called a chili. It’s delicious, even without the ramps.

Strong-smelling and wild, ramps are dug from mountain coves during the early spring. A “bait” of them are sold at farmers markets or shared with neighbors. If ramps are not available, substitute spring onions, or just yellow onions with an especially strong taste. Palette Butler serves this soup for the lunch crowd at Veranda Café & Gifts, co-owned with husband Jeff in Black Mountain, NC.

1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds

1 or 2 bay leaves

12 black peppercorns

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup chopped yellow onion

2 15-ounce can red kidney beans

28-ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 15-ounce can beef broth

2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

2 to 6 whole ramps (to taste), leaves and bulbs chopped

1 large sweet onion, chopped

½ to one 4-ounce can chopped green chilies, to taste

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon chili powder (or more, to taste)

1/8 to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)

1 ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Place chicken in a stockpot with the peppercorns, carrots and yellow onion. Barely cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Skim off any foam. Cook the chicken for at least 45 minutes to an hour, or until the chicken is cooked through and fork tender.

2. Remove the chicken from the pot. Using a fork and sharp knife, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces and toss the bones and cartilege. Strain the broth from the stockpot and reserve.

3. Add the shredded chicken back to the stockpot. Add kidney beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth, garlic, ramps, onion and green chilies. Add enough reserved chicken broth for desired consistency, about 4 to 6 cups. Stir in oregano, cumin. chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.

4. Simmer for at least one hour or more to allow flavors to meld and onions to soften.

NOTE: Freeze any leftover stock for use later.

YIELD: 8 to 10 large servings

SPRING GREENS, FETA & PASTA

Rainbow Chard

Spring is my favorite time of year. Not only for the yellow and pink blossoms that erupt from leafless trees and as daffodils, but also for the GREENS from the garden. And now, thanks to hoop houses and growing tunnels, mustard greens, Tuscan kale, curly kale and the above Rainbow Chard hit the markets even earlier.

At Tumbling Shoals Farm, in NC's northwestern corner, Shiloh and partner Jason grow a smorgasbord of terrific veggies. Former Peace Corps workers, they came home and apprenticed with an organic grower in the Triangle area, took some classes in sustainable farming, then found their mountain farm to pour their hearts and souls into.

Last summer during the Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture's farm tour, I saw tomatoes in hoop houses, rain gutters adapted as a growing place for starting seeds, and the elaborate schedule used to rotate crops.

Shiloh is a great cook, and I was so happy that she shared this recipe with me. It's become one of my favorite "meatless meals." I just love the slightly bitter flavor of the chard with the tang of the feta and the flavor of the spinach pasta. And it's quick and easy! Try the recipe that follows.......

And, watch my latest appearance on Roanoke's WSLS10's OUR BLUE RIDGE, where I make this dish with co-host Natalie:

http://www2.wsls.com/lifestyles/2011/mar/25/spring-greens-and-pasta-elizabeth-wiegand-ar-927660/

Here's the RECIPE:

SPRING GREENS FARMERS MARKET SUPPER

from THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK, by Elizabeth Wiegand, Globe Pequot Press, 2010

At the Watauga Farmers Market, Shiloh Avery and Jason Roehrig of Tumbling Shoals Farm, sell chemical-free strawberries, lacinato kale, rainbow chard, escarole, endive, arugula, and lots of other spring greens. They recommend procuring the rest of the ingredients at the market, also.

1 package spinach linguine or other fresh pasta

one bunch (4 to 6 cups) chopped rainbow chard or other spring green

4 tablespoons olive oil, plus a splash

2 bunches chopped green onions

salt to taste

5 ounces feta cheese

freshly ground black pepper

1. Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water with a splash of olive oil. If pasta is fresh, be careful not to overcook.)

2. Meanwhile, separate the stems from the chard leaves. Coarsely chop the stems, then roll the leaves together and coarsely chop.

3. Heat the 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large, heavy skillet. Saute the onion and chard stems (not greens) in the oil for about six minutes.

4. Add the chard greens and salt. Cook until wilted.

5. Add the feta cheese and pasta and continue cooking for another minute, until feta begins to melt. Add ground black pepper and serve.

SERVES 3 to 4

THE BUZZ

BEE SMART

Our honey bees are in trouble. Since 2006, beekeepers have lost from a third to 90% of their hives, in what is called "Colony Collapse Disorder" or CCD. And no one knows what causes this sudden disappearance of all adult bees.

Pesticides are the most suspicious culprits, as is urban sprawl and decreasing farmland. For a while, cell phones were thought to bother the bees. There's a varroa mite that feeds on bee's blood and transmits viruses, and a pathogenic gut microbe, nosema, that also cause bee deaths. It could be a combination of all of the above problems, scientists say.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED

Bees pollinate as they search for food to take back to the hive. And 130 crops - most of them food - depend on bees, from almonds in California to blueberries right here in N.C. Without a healthy bee population, our food supplies will dwindle. Beekeepers here in NC and VA truck their bees all over the South and even out to California, earning money from farmers who rely on bees to pollinate their crops. Without bees, there would be little fruit or veggies.

That's why I'm posting the link below that I want you to follow. Let Congress know that you want the EPA to look into pesticide use and colony collapse disorder.

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5986/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5833

HONEY DO LIST

Honey in tea, on a warm piece of toast, in marinades, vinaigrettes....I do love my honey. Gallberry is the flavor I have left in my pantry, and I look forward to the spring crop of wildflower honey, and tupelo honey during early summer and . . . .

Here's a bread recipe from THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK that comes from Sweet Providence Farm near Floyd, Va, given to me by Ann Houston, the just-turned-20 year-old who is the chief baker at her family's roadside market. As a teenager, Ann loved to bake so much and had such success, that they had a "barn-raising" for the bakery/market they built to sell her oven-baked apple turnovers, pies, cakes and bread. She and her siblings man the cash registers, order and sort the produce and meats that come from other local farmers, and display other Southern products. It's worth the drive to check it out, and during the summer, Ann and her six young siblings play bluegrass on the porch on weekend afternoons.

MAPLE, HONEY AND OATMEAL BREAD, from THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK

butter for pans

3 cups boiling water

1 cup rolled oats, plus ¼ cup oats, for topping

2 ounces (1/2 stick) butter

2 tablespoons maple syrup

¼ cup honey

1 ½ cups wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt *(I added)

1 teaspoon yeast

about 4 ½ cups white flour

2 egg whites

1. Boil water.

2. Combine 1 cup rolled oats and butter in a bowl.

3. Add boiling water to oat mixture. Let stand until butter melts.

4. Add maple syrup, honey and wheat flour, and mix.

5. Let stand until room temperature. Add yeast and stir.

6. Add white flour slowly, stirring, and then kneading until a soft and smooth dough forms. You may not need all of the white flour.

7. Place dough in a clean bowl and let rise until it doubles.

8. Punch down and let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°. Grease two loaf pans with butter.

9. Divide the dough into two equal amounts, shape loaves, and place into loaf pans.

10. Let rise until double.

11. Glaze with egg whites and sprinkle with oats.

12. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until dark golden brown and hollow sounding when thumped.

YIELD: 2 Loaves

(c) THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK

TWO PLACES WHERE YOU NEED TO EAT BEFORE YOU DIE

Hey, I'm not kidding. You need to eat here. Now. You've got two months left before it closes for this year, and who knows if the Cypress Grill in Jamesville will survive hurricanes and the economy for yet another season. Although, it's been open for business since 1936 and the place stays crowded.

Eat a bit of history at the Cypress Grill, NC's only remaining "cook up" shack, those impromptu eateries that lined the Roanoke River each spring during the annual herring run.

And I do mean "shack." Stains run a few feet up the old board-and-batten siding, made from cypress harvested from the trees interspersed with tupelo gums that grow up and down the Roanoke River. Inside, crude booths make you sit up straight, and a sideboard full of pies remind you to save room for dessert.

Articles singing praises about the place, from Gourmet, Southern Living, and the Smithsonian, hang in frames on the wall, along with photos of a nine-foot, 92-pound diamondback rattlesnake caught nearby.

Turn off of HWY 64 into Jamesville, then head to the river and head right till you see a small sign for the Cypress Grill. Go down to the boat ramp, and it's on your right.

WHADDYA EAT?

Herring and/or shad. You can have either "sunny side up," meaning crisply fried till golden, or "cremated," cooked till hard and crunchy. Each fish, headless but with its tail, is gutted, then slashed or what they call "notched" to the bone several times, rolled in cornmeal, then put into the fryer.

Herring is a fishy fish. You gotta like fish, oily fish, to like herring.

And you've got to deal with bones. Lots of bones. Not for the squeamish or picky eater, herring is a primordial sensation. But you need to eat it, here at the Cypress Grill, at least once in your life.

"Scrape the meat up with your fork down the middle," our waitress recommended when my husband asked her how to eat it. That was after she rolled her eyes. "Or, just pick it up and scrape it with your teeth. And you can eat the bones." Now my husband rolled his eyes.

And you need to try the ROE, as well. We missed out on the roe by one week, said our waitress (last week of Feb 2011). Herring and shad roe are an Eastern North Carolina treat that old-timers really look forward to. The roe is also rolled in cornmeal, then fried, and served with scrambled eggs. In years past, I've enjoyed its naturally salty, fishy taste and crunch.

Save room for the homemade lemon and chocolate meringue pies, made by owners Leslie and Sally Gardner. I can personally attest for the scrumptious fudgy chocolate version with its cloud-like meringue.

The Cypress Grill is open from January through April, in Jamesville, NC. (252) 792-4175.

A DAY DOWN EAST

We feasted with our eyes and ears, too, during our day Down East.

Tundra Swans beckon us to Lake Mattamuskeet each winter to watch their graceful movements in the shallow water. One year we were so lucky to watch hundreds of them take off, right at sunset, for their beds somewhere west. At February's end this year, only dozens remained, but there were egrets, hawks, herons, and all sorts of ducks to amuse us.

ROSE BAY OYSTERS

Along Swan Quarter, near the ferry that goes over the Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke Island, there are names that make oyster lovers swoon. Rose Bay. Engelhard. Stumpy Point.

On our way to Lake Mattamuskeet, we stopped at this oyster processor. It's the only one left in this area that could be likened to California's Cannery Row, with dozens of big oyster canneries that employed the locals and migrant labor, too. Back in the '70s, oysters just about disappeared from NC's waters, due to over-harvesting as well as the draining of land with canals and ditches that dumped too much freshwater and pollutants into the sounds. Oysters have made a comeback, thanks to regulations and efforts to re-establish oyster reefs with used oyster shells and other materials.

Oysters from the natural half-moon-shape along this inner coastline, known as Rose Bay, are today prized for their salty yet sweet, briny taste. In season, during the colder months, you can now get oysters from Rose Bay at a couple of oyster bars across the state, even in Cary.

We headed to Williamston, to Sunny Side Oyster Bar, an icon in North Carolina. . . . one of those places you just have to eat at before you die.

THE OTHER PLACE TO EAT DOWN EAST BEFORE YOU DIE . . . .

Sunny Side has been open for business since 1936. When new owners took over in 1991, they decided it needed little improvement, and tried to leave it as it was.

That included the use of sawdust, cedar shavings, on the floor of the horseshoe bar. No kitchen, but rather an outdoor roaster, where galvanized buckets of oysters are placed to be steamed. The swinging hook and circle to amuse you while you wait. And a big dance floor where you can boogey to live music some weekends.

You might have to wait 30 minutes or more to belly up to the oyster bar, which occupies the room in back. But it's worth the wait, and lately, the oysters have come from NC waters, like Rose Bay.

Passing time while our oysters were steaming, one of our party was game to try "The Rooster" - an oyster on a saltine, topped with a bit of horseradish, then a habanero pepper and more hot sauce. Folks around the bar chided and peppered her with dares to "just do it," then cheered loudly as she sputtered down a beer.

"Geezer," like many of the shuckers, has been working at Sunny Side for decades. He poured melted butter into a small bowl, and filled another with a warm, slightly spicy hot sauce whose recipe, bought back when the place was just opened, is still a secret.

Geezer returned from out back with our bucket, a peck of Rose Bay oysters lightly steamed, which he swiftly and deftly opened one by one, laying each like a pearl into a bowl in front of each of us.

Those Rose Bay oysters were plump. Salty, tasting of the sea. Done to perfection, still juicy. Like jewels themselves.

"Ever found a pearl?" asked the guy next to me. "My wife has a jewelry box full of them," Geezer answered. "If she hasn't lost them."

Sunny Side Oyster Bar, 1102 Washington St (where US 17 & 64 meet), Williamston, NC (252) 792-3416.