it's a shellfish girl summer 🦪

Dear friends,

First, some business.

Quite a few new subscribers have found their way here since my last dispatch, thanks to my pal, erstwhile Colbert writer Felipe Torres Medina, and his very funny writing for the Borowitz Report.

If that is you, welcome! I have prepared you folks your very own red-hot mini Kitchen Dispatch to introduce myself:

For the rest of you, it’s Saturday, July 11th, 2026. Here’s all the news that’s fit to dispatch.

We’re wearing clothes that disguise our soft form. We’re staying hydrated. We’re drinking briny cocktails. We’re doing our best for the environment. We’re developing a smell after a couple hours in the heat.

Here are 5 shellfish summer must haves, as I imagine it. (Not affiliate links, too lazy, just regular recs.)

• Tasty brine options

• A good dirty Negroni recipe

• An outfit that disguises the true width and breadth of your arms and legs

• A comfortable shucking knife

• A regular volunteer shift

I did in fact have friends over the other night to eat an unreasonable amount of shellfish, and it really was so nice.

Here’s what we ate:

• Homemade dips: baba ganoush and a spicy labneh thing

• Shigoku oysters with homemade mignonette (which I received from Taylor Shelfish for free as part of a work thing, so heads up #gifted, but highly recommend—they didn’t ask me to post, it’s for an article I’m writing, but wowza they were great)

• An unholy number of mussels (recipe follows)

• Fresh bucatini (just drenched in the mussel sauce, plus salt, pepper, lemon, and olive oil)

• Endives and radicchio, charred, then braised

• All served with good sourdough bread

And for dessert, a plum and pistachio galette based loosely on the raspberry almond tart from Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone, plus Magnolia Bakery cupcakes brought by the aforementioned friend Felipe and his most excellent wife Taylor (who is very much also a comedy writer!).

To drink, I attempted a watermelon mezcal cocktail that turned out ok, plus white wine and a little after dinner port with dessert.

Growing up in the Maritime provinces means a life of seafood. Seafood casserole on Christmas Eve, oysters for New Year’s, lobster suppers when they’re on sale or someone hooks you up with their fisherman buddy. And Prince Edward Island is truly that girl when it comes to mussels. The result of all that is that I have a strong opinion as to the best way to cook mussels. Here’s the way I like mine.

• 2-3 lbs. mussels

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 shallot, minced

• 2 cloves garlic, sliced (optional)

• about 1 cup dry white wine (like Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc)

• 1/2 cup chicken stock (or seafood stock, if you have it)

• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

• 1 Tbsp green onion/chives, chopped

• 2 Tbsp butter

• Juice of 1 lemon

• more salt than you think

• fresh cracked black pepper (optional)

1. Make sure your mussels are cleaned and de-bearded. Most farmed mussels come basically clean and ready to go, but giving them a rinse and doing your due diligence up front helps you avoid a stinker later. Check through your mussels for any that are dead or have cracked or broken shells.

2. Heat a large pan over medium heat (I use a 4.5 quart sauté pan with roughly 2-inch tall sides, if you have something along those lines).

3. Add olive oil, shallots, and garlic, if using. Cook until shallots are just softened and translucent.

4. Add white wine and a heavy pinch of salt and bring to a boil.

5. Once it’s been boiling about a minute (to burn off some of the alcohol), add mussels and broth and return to a boil. Cover to steam the little guys—this should only take a couple minutes.

6. Once the mussels have opened up (an easy, visible sign that they’re cooked), add herbs and butter and stir until the butter melts. I like to use a pasta scoop or similar to move the cooked mussels into a bowl to give myself more room to maneuver in the sauce. Give it a good stir, then turn off the heat, squeeze lemon into brothy sauce, and taste. Season with more salt and, if you want, a small crack of pepper.

7. Pour the broth over the bowl of mussels and serve immediately with good crusty bread and a side bowl for shells.

Pairs well with a crisp white wine, a gaggle of friends, and a chill vibe.

Some summer-y things that I’m loving right now:

• Widow’s Bay, the Apple TV horror-comedy starring Matthew Rhys

• this song and this song by Jerry Jeff Walker, and this playlist made by Chef Ayo Balogun for Brooklyn’s Dept. of Culture

• Keya’s Snacks’ new Golden Ranch chip flavor

Thanks as always for reading! Hope these hot summer months are treating you well and you’re getting some time with the ocean.

Talk soon,