Mussel Recipes

[garethw]

The basic French recipe is Moules Marinières...
Chopped shallots.
Chopped parsley
Laurel leaf and some thyme
Bottle of dry white wine....Gros Plant is good..

Cook shallots in some butter for a few minutes... add cleaned mussels (Bouchots are the tastiest); pour over white wine and add laurel and sprig of thyme...
Cook until all mussles are opened, but don't over cook.... add parsely at last minute...

Serve with 'Pommes Frites'; (with optional mayonnaise) some crusty French bread and a glass of Sancerre...

 

[Broch]

The basic French recipe is Moules Marinières...
Chopped shallots.
Chopped parsley
Laurel leaf and some thyme
Bottle of dry white wine....Gros Plant is good..

Cook shallots in some butter for a few minutes... add cleaned mussels (Bouchots are the tastiest); pour over white wine and add laurel and sprig of thyme...
Cook until all mussles are opened, but don't over cook.... add parsely at last minute...

Serve with 'Pommes Frites'; (with optional mayonnaise) some crusty French bread and a glass of Sancerre...

It actually comes from Belgium I believe (well the Belgians claim it does anyway) though the French claim it's from Normandy and it is served a lot in France.

 

[garethw]

It actually comes from Belgium I believe (well the Belgians claim it does anyway) though the French claim it's from Normandy and it is served a lot in France.

Don't know the origins of the dish, but biggest chain restaurant in France selling mussels is Leon de Bruxelles.. so you may well be right. The French offer a handful of basic recipes in most restaurants... Marinières, à la Crème, au Curry, et Provencale. I personally like the marinières best.. as the others have a stronger flavour that masks the taste of the mussels.. dry white wine seems to compliment them best to my taste...

 

[Janne]

The worst with mussels is the way I mess myself up.....

Wife usually tells me I should have one of those bibs you put on babies!

 

[santaman2000]

Don't know the origins of the dish, but biggest chain restaurant in France selling mussels is Leon de Bruxelles.. so you may well be right. The French offer a handful of basic recipes in most restaurants... Marinières, à la Crème, au Curry, et Provencale. I personally like the marinières best.. as the others have a stronger flavour that masks the taste of the mussels.. dry white wine seems to compliment them best to my taste...

I imagine the Belgians probably know which beer to pair with it.

 

[garethw]

I imagine the Belgians probably know which beer to pair with it.

We usually get Leffe, Affligem or the Leon of Bruxelles special .... Good stuff Belgain beer...

 

[Robson Valley]

janne: lean over. May not look too proper but you will look better for it after supper.

I'm really lucky = nobody likes mussels, not even the cat, so I eat with the flies (by myself).
I am civilized enough to plate the mussels and broth from the pot. My own fresh bread and softened butter.

Was just dreaming of a mussel dish with chunks of tomato, probably Roma, and dramatically different herbs.
Flat leaf parsley, OK, but cilantro belongs in the trash.

 

[Janne]

Bad back. Badly compressed L4 and L5 in 1982, that is the reason I am working with what I do.
Stiff.

Wife has a first class, top line washing machine and tumbledryer.
And she is a Meister ironer!
So life is good.

 

[Janne]

All this talk about tomatoes, wine, pepper and such, reminded me last about a more hardcore way, the way it is done on the west coast of Sweden and south coast of Norway.
You just steam them in sea water.

 

[Broch]

All this talk about tomatoes, wine, pepper and such, reminded me last about a more hardcore way, the way it is done on the west coast of Sweden and south coast of Norway.
You just steam them in sea water.

There's a distant echo on here
Not limited to Scandinavian countries - see post #10

 

[Robson Valley]

Jeez! In this day and time, you want to use seawater? The global toilet?
Even the medievals knew that wine and beer was safe water to drink.

You should see what all we get in the Japan Current.
The motorcycle in styrofoam was the best. Idiot wanted it returned for free.

 

[Broch]

Nothing wrong with the seawater off the North West coast of Scotland or the molluscs that grow in it - especially on the Outer Hebrides and north of Mull.

 

[Robson Valley]

Maybe just my colonial palate but wine tastes better to me than anybody's seawater!

Booger. The spring power outages have started but just 2 so far today.

 

[Janne]

Off Topic ( here we GOOOOO!!! )

You know the North Atlantic shrimp? You might buy them under the brand Greenland,( 2 kilo deepfrozen boxes).
They have been boiled in seawater on the boat, just after the catch. Nothing added.
100% pure taste.

Sure, you can buy raw shrimp/prawns and cook them with wine and stuff, which is also noce, but then the flavor is lost and replaced.
Back to Topic
Same with mussels and clams.
Try it, just recreate the salinity using sea salt and your mountain water.
If you do not like them au Naturel, de-shell, toss with some greenery, garlic, olive oil and bronze die pasta.

 

[Robson Valley]

No. Spot Prawns are BC Coast. The catch is maybe 26-30 and they're bland fresh on a grill.
Terrible thing to live 10 hrs inland from tidewater (Kitimat on the Dean Channel).
I just have to suffer and make do with whatever wines I can find in the liquor store.

In the city I can buy big tough 6-8 prawn tails, also 15-20 and 26 30 prawns.
I've never asked where all those come from. I'd rather go to the prep trouble and eat shellfish.
Frozen 71-90 prawns that I buy here, I feed to the cat.

BC scallops only ever get sold frozen in blocks off the boats, never in seafood shops. They are worth every nickle.
Better tasting than any mussel ever invented.
A nickle is 5 cents. I can't say worth every penny as we have not used 1-cent penny coins for years.
That's off-topic.

 

[Janne]

Those are from S.E Asia.
Ponds fertilized with human waste, treated with antibiotics, and after death, injected/plumped up with a solution of animal protein and water.

Do not touch them!
Tillapia? Other S.E. Asian farmed fish??
Google.
Yuk.

 

[Robson Valley]

Neither one of knows where those prawns come from. My crystal ball is busted.

Plus, hard to keep up right now = a clock-busting power failure more that once an hour since I got up.
6 or 8? lost track. Welcome to Camp Siberia. Free salt with every meal.

 

[santaman2000]

Neither one of knows where those prawns come from. My crystal ball is busted.

I get mine fresh caught straight off the boat

And Louisiana farmed crawfish

Willingham Seafood just got in a fresh load of gulf fish: Red Grouper, Strawberry Grouper, Corvina, Tuna plus local Mullet & Flounder. We also have fresh Bay Shrimp and live Crawfish. Call the market with any questions or prices. Come see us!!!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1673028409386376

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1087430854612804

 

[Robson Valley]

Vitamin Sea? You got that right. I get a spring itchy for seafood and no amount of
the world's best wild Pacific salmon can fix that.
Come visit, I'm buying. This is a time limited feast.

 

[Janne]

That seafood looks fab! Not in our supermarkets though. The brands sold here, albeit US sounding, are from across the Pacific.