Cannon Beach

Cannon Beach, Oregon, is a popular coastal town that National Geographic has listed as one of the world's 100 most beautiful places.  The area around Cannon Beach was settled originally by the Tillamook people in the 15th century.  Lewis and Clark's expedition explored the area in 1805 and 1806 and William Clark described it as "...the grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed, in front of a boundless Ocean..."

We visit Cannon Beach, staying at a hotel on the beach, to explore the beaches, trails, and towns of the area.  On our arrival, we first walk out on the beach to visit Haystack Rock, one of Oregon's most recognizable landmarks and home to colorful tidepools, diverse birdlife, and, from early spring to mid-summer, tufted puffins.

Haystack Rock

Views up and down the beach

Tufted puffins

The puffins are not yet at the rock, but the area is filled with tidal pools and people wandering through the landscape.

Exploring Haystack Rock

Do not disturb the wildlife

Houses overlooking the beach

We spend several days exploring the area around Cannon Beach, but return every afternoon to enjoy great seafood in the restaurants of the city.

Baked halibut, cod and chips

Baked salmon, seafood stew

View from our booth in a restaurant

Wedge salad, clams, baked halibut

These are incredible meals, perfect endings to the wonderful experiences we have each day exploring the coast around Cannon Beach.

Award-Winning Clam Chowder

Duke's Seafood Restaurant has six locations in the Washington Puget Sound area and is famous for their award-winning chowder.  They share the recipe and we use it to make clam chowder for dinner.

We first dice and blanch red potatoes in boiling water until they are tender and set them aside.  We next cook bacon in a saucepan until crispy and then add butter, diced onions, diced celery, and chopped garlic, sautéing until tender.  We add flour and cook to form the roux, one of Duke's secrets for a good chowder.

Lots of bacon

Lining up the ingredients

In a separate bowl, we mix clam base with clam juice and add the mixture to the roux.  We next add milk, cream, basil, thyme, marjoram (we substitute oregano), parsley, and dill, heating until almost boiling and blending constantly with a wire whisk.  The blanched red potatoes and clams come in at the end and we simmer for a few minutes.

Roux and clam base/juice

All together now

Serve and enjoy!

Appetizers

Chowder is served

Desert

One of the secrets of chowder is that (like many of our soup and pasta dishes) it is even better the next day after a "cure," when the herbs have bloomed and the flavors have fully emulsified.  We have half for dinner tonight and the rest is in the refrigerator for later in the week.

Celebratory Dinner of Ahi Poke, Grilled Oysters, and Profiteroles

We get our first (and only) significant snow storm of the winter and celebrate (once the snow melts the next day) by going to a local oyster farm and picking up a dozen oysters for a celebration dinner.

Our winter snow storm

With a good storm like this, our power fails for about 12 hours and our pre-celebration dinner is simple, composed of whatever we can find in the refrigerator (without opening it too much):  salad and chicken sandwiches by battery light.

Snow dinner

The next day, we head over to Minterbrook Oyster Company, located in Minter Bay, an estuary of Washington's Puget Sound.  As we arrive, the boat is bringing in fresh oysters from the farm and we pop into the shop and purchase a dozen.

Oysters arriving

Fresh Ahi is on sale at the local market and we pick some up to make poke for a starter, mixing the cubed ahi with soy sauce, sliced green onions, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes.

Ahi poke to start

We shuck the oysters, grill them with barbecue sauce, and serve with a sliced baguette for slopping up the sauce.

The oysters

Shucking

Oysters ready to go

Oysters grilled

Dinner is served

They're all gone

For desert, we make profiteroles, the fabulous French combination of fresh pastry (milk, butter, flour, and eggs), vanilla ice cream, and chocolate (cream and melted chocolate chips combined with honey and coffee).

Pastry, add ice cream

Add chocolate, serve with champagne

Desert!

Another great celebration!