Mussel recipes

[marlie202]

My favorite is mussels marinara--any other suggestions???

[ElsieB]

Mussels with pernod butter - not sure where I found the recipe originally, now it is a favorite
pre-holiday appetizer! The mussels are steamed then half the shells are saved and placed on a sheet pan and a mussel placed in each, then a dab of butter creamed with herbs and pernod.
Sort of like escargot. Really good. Can be made and assembled ahead of time (and kept chilled), then put in oven to heat.

[Harters]

I also like moules mariniere as earlier recipe - but served Belgian style with chips (fries) and mayo.

Also nice to cook them the same way; then loosen them from the shell; put two or three on each half shell; add a coating of breadcrumbs and grill for a minute or two, so the crumbs toast a little.

[Passadumkeg]

Spicy mussels in Dijon mustard cream sauce. A 2 lb bag of the ole blue shells, sliver an onion, crush a garlic clove, 1tp. +- hot pepper flakes, 1/2c white wine, steam mussels, remove, boil down sauce , stir in 1c cream and 1tbl. Dijon, don't boil, add mussels, toss in sauce & warm through. Serve w/ baguette. Dunk, dunk, dunk. Yum.
Based on the former Maydee's Restaurant in Ellsworth, Me.

[puppymomma]

I made this once (got it online at a sharing site). I really enjoyed it:

3 lbs. mussels
6 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 c. chopped scallions
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1 c. chopped artichoke hearts or bottoms
1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh tarragon or 1/2 tsp. dried
Salt & freshly ground pepper
3/4 c. dry white wine

With stiff brush, scrub mussels under cold running water. Pull off any beards. Place in large bowl with cold water to cover and set aside until ready to steam. Before steaming, discard any mussels with open shells.

Peel garlic and chop finely.

In large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic, scallions, parsley, artichoke hearts, tarragon and salt and pepper to taste and cook until vegetables are tender but not browned, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add wine and 1/4 cup water and simmer 5 minutes. Then raise heat to high and bring to a boil.

Add mussels, cover pan, and steam until mussels have opened, about 5 minutes. Discard any mussels with unopened shells.

Transfer mussels to warm platter and spoon juices over them.

Meryl
http://mylittleworldoffood.blogspot.com/

[love_my_sibe]

Mussels cooked in a ginger bath are delicious. Brown your fresh cut ginger in extra-virgin olive oil. Then place your mussels in the hot oil and add some msg. Add about 1-2 cups of water and boil. Turn off your burner and cover.

My husband who is not a mollusk eater loves these!

[JungMann]

For simplicity: cooked in a bottle of Italian dressing with extra garlic and parlsey. Surprisingly good!

With time: cooked in coconut milk with 4 Tbsp. red curry paste, shallots, lemongrass, cilantro and a splash of fish sauce and lime.

[mmalmad]

I like to saute leeks and garlic in a bit of olive oil and butter, then add white wine and let it reduce a bit then add the musssels and steam

[Glencora]

My favorite is cooked in beer with minced shallots and ginger, finished with a bit of butter. The combination of flavors really works.

[Sarah]

Anyone have the mussels (in red wine) recipe from Bistro Jeanty in Yountville?? The best!

[Megiac]

My two favorite recipes for mussels are:

1) A curried carrot broth with a bit of creme fraiche from the Aquavit cookbook. The recipe is actually for a horseradish crusted artic char surrounded by the mussels, but the mussels are so good we cook them by themselves all the time.

2) A spanish moules mariniere recipe from Food and Wine (search "mussels in sailor's sauce" on their website, and its the one with a jalapeno and cilantro.

[powerfulpierre]

My totally biased opinion is that the best mussels in the world come from Great Eastern Mussel Farms in Tenants Harbor, ME. A ten-pound bag fresh from their packaging line is just right for a dinner for two. They are so sweet that you don't want to do anything to hide the flavor.
Check out their website for some more great recipes: http://www.eatmussels.com/cooking.html

[andytee]

I've had good luck with Great Eastern mussels too. I can only assume you are referring to the two pound bag they commonly sell, ten pounds would be a lot of mussels. Most places, the two pound bag sells for around $3.50, a great deal for a simple and healthy seafood dinner for two.

[powerfulpierre]

Hi andytee,
Nope, they put up 10lb bags for restaurants. I'm sure you can order them through a fish market. We're very spoiled as we sometimes are able to pick them up at their plant. The prices are wholesale and last summer they were about $1 a pound.
Steam up the whole ten pounds, eat them till you can't eat anymore, then just shuck the rest of them and freeze them in the broth for a treat in the winter. Enjoy.

[andytee]

that does sound exciting. 10 lbs would be perfect for a whomping mussel fest or a dinner party.

[NYchowcook]

I also like Great Eastern Mussel Farms. Haven't been able to get them lately. I went to their plant once thinking I could buy them there but it was closed/looked abandoned.

[Passadumkeg]

They open only a load comes in from the "mussel farms" for repackaging for transshipment. Most of the work is done by the time the mussels arrive on land.
They have already been scrubbed in big rollers on the dragger boat's (environmentally very destructive) stern and bagged in 20 lb net bags. Or at the farms(nobody w/ shore front property wants them in their front yard), a barge w/ a little hut on top hauls up the mussel strings, takes the larger mussels, scrubs & bags 'em and takes the mussels to a waiting truck on shore. Next stop moules mariniere!

[lunchbox]

As much as I love mussels steamed with white wine, I think I have to go with Belgian beers for the win.
Something wheaty with some minced shallots, a dollup of horseradish, steam the mussels, remove the mussels, begin to reduce the cooking liquid, finish with a hefty tablespoon of creme fraiche.
Wow... there are some AMAZING sonding recipes in here!

[BJE]

Saute shallots and some minced garlic in butter. Add dijon mustard and thin with cream. Add mussels and cook until done. Yum!

[FAL]

Moules mariniere
5 lbs cleaned mussels
1 cup onion finely choped\1 clove of garlic ,
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoons black pepper
sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
sea salt
2 tbls butter
1 cup dry white wine.
Good loaf of bread
Comine all the ingredients in a large pot cover, place on high heat and bring to a boil.
Cook for 10 minutes .. Stir the mussels in a the pot . Cook until they are all open and dicard the one that don't. Do not over cook they will toughen up. Serve in warm deep bowls with good crusty bread.

[marlie202]

all of these sound wonderful-thanks--keep them coming-

[ginqueen]

I like to do it just with shallots, butter, white wine, and parsley, but also love these combinations:

--coconut milk & curry
--saffron, garlic, white wine
--chorizo & cilantro

[andytee]

we've been eating a lot of mussels lately.

here's a few variations:

w/ spinach and shitakes in coconut milk:

saute garlic, sliced shitake mushrooms, and baby spinach. splash in a large glass (6-8 oz) of sake, when it boils, add mussels and 1/2 of a can of coconut milk. cook until mussels open, then remove them, and reduce the liquid for a few minutes. re-warm mussels in the liquid, then serve topped with scallions and cilantro.

w/ tomato, fennel, and saffron:

pre-soak a large pinch of saffron in hot water.
saute 1/2 onion and 2-3 cloves garlic (all chopped fine) in olive oil. add 1/2 bulb fennel, sliced thin. when fennel is soft, add 14-16 oz (a small can) of diced tomato with its juice. let this reduce a bit, then add the saffron and its soaking liquid. pour in a large glass of white wine, add the mussels, and cook until they open.
serve topped with fennel fronds and fresh ground pepper.

[esmom]

We frequently make them with sauteed onions, garlic and chorizo. Add a cup of white wine or vermouth and a tsp.+ of smoked paprika. I have a friend who adds to that mixture aleppo chilis but I find it's too hot. Speaking of the thai, Jasper White used to cook his mussels similarly and they were fantastic.

[cheryl_h]

Billi bi - mussel soup in a creamy base. Wonderful with good, fresh mussels.

Thai mussel curry. I make this regularly with frozen New Zealand mussels when we need a quick Thai fix. I put in vegetables which look good - Asian eggplant, yard long beans, fresh bamboo shoots, bell peppers - so it's a one-pot meal. We have it over rice or chewy noodles.

[ali patts]

In sicily I had mussel soup (hardly soup) but it was really good.

Finely chop a couple of shallots and some garlic, fry. Add stacks of chopped/minced (whatever) tomatoes and some fresh or dried red chili. Cook down to decent 'soup' consistency. Throw in mussels, when they open chuck in some chopped parsley - another case of the cooking liquor being just as important as the mussels themselves. Crusty bread a must.

[hotoynoodle]

i like adding fennel to the cooking liquid. a splash of pernod too.

[marlie202]

these all sound great--thanks

[TonyO]

Always start with good quality mussels (Prince Edward Island are great and cheap for us in New England).
1. Saute some cubed bacon and leeks, add mussels and some apple cider and cook until mussels open. Serve with some grilled bread.

2. Saute chopped garlic, tomatoes, and onions for a few minutes, add mussels and a mild white wine (Pinot Grigio) and a couple tablespoons of butter. Cook until mussels open and garnish with plenty of flat leaf parsley.

[soypower]

my mother makes a lovely, simple, mussel soup.

bring vegetable/chicken stock or water to a boil in a stock pot.

add mussels.

in a bowl, mix flat chinese chives with garlic and hot pepper flakes. add mixture to stock pot.

add a splash of sake and salt to taste.

[stlSarah]

best mussles we ever made were steamed in coconut milk flavored with lemongrass- delicate and rich.

[JoanN]

However you cook your mussels, here's a great tip: Remove the mussels from the sauce with a Chinese wire strainer or slotted spoon as soon as they open then boil down the sauce for a few minutes before returning the mussels to the pot to rewarm them. This concentrates all the luscious mussel liquid in the sauce and makes any sauce that much more flavorful.

[280 Ninth]

Thanks for the tip, Joan. I make mussels often enough, so I'll be sure to make good use of your advice. Especially good with mussels provencal, I imagine, to reduce the water content of the tomatoes.

[Kuisine]

We had the most amazing green Thai curry mussels in London. I have no idea of a recipe for it, but per the menu it involved lime, coriander, coconut, chili and lemongrass.

The place serves mussels about 10 ways, maybe something will spark an idea for you?

http://www.belgo-restaurants.com/Cent...

Kathy/Kuisine

[QueenB]

Mussels cooked in white wine and garlic. Then, finished off with tarragon and a splash of cream.

[tuqueboy]

mussels cooked in beer are excellent, in particular the following two recipes (more guidelines than recipes, actually):
--Mussels cooked in guiness (enough guiness to cover the mussels. add in 1 or 2 chipotles in adobo sauce which have been mashed up (or just the sauce). add a couple of chopped shallots. simmer until mussels open. enjoy.
--Mussels cooked in Belgian-style wheat beer, such as Hogaarden or Blanche de Chambly. same amount as for previous recipe. add some shallots (or garlic or onions, for that matter).