Mussel Recipes

[Robson Valley]

At 30-35/lb, 30 full ones is a big dinner for me.
- sweat 2 tbsp crushed garlic in 2 tbsp butter in a big enough pot.
- add 1/2C dice each onion, red and green peppers and sweat more.
- add 1C white wine and heat to boil.
- add mussels, roll them around, lid on to steam cook 8-10 minutes.
Serves with fresh bread, soft butter and a cold glass of white.

This is all I have. Looking for a recipes with a tomato base sauce or?

 

[Janne]

Basically, that is the best way.
I like to add some chopped green herbs, basil maybe. Sprinkle with finely chopped spring onions, just to get some nice fresh crunchiness.

 

[Janne]

Some neanderthals add cream too.
I like to go kosher. No cream. Plenty of white wine.

 

[Robson Valley]

OK but start with a concasse' of tomato, onion, garlic, white wine and ?
French bread is OK to dunk in the steamed mussel juice but the fresher the better, any kind.

 

[Janne]

And salt and a herb.
The Belgians like frites with the mussels.
Barbarians.

Ciabatta is good too. Cuban bread too. Both fresh, no more than an hour or two old.
We are lucky here, we can get fresh bread here. Not prebake, fresh.

One more thing sbout the Inuit ladies. They must have thick skinned knees.
Not easy crawling on the knees to and on the mussel bank.

 

[Janne]

Can you imagine when they go back to the entry hole, and see a Polar bear sitting outside and waiting?

 

[santaman2000]

Just add them to the cioppino.

 

[Mike313]

Robson, we use that recipe almost every time we cook mussels. We normally have it as a main course rather than as a starter. Being UK based, we can buy Muscadet-sur-lie French wine easily enough and we use that both to cook the mussels and to drink with the meal.
For the bread, we sometimes cut some french bread (baguette) in inch-thick diagonal slices, fry it golden both sides in olive oil, let it cool a bit and then rub it with garlic on both sides and dip it in the winey sauce. It keeps its crunchiness while still soaking up the sauce.

For a tomato recipe, add 1/2 to 1 pound of diced beef tomatoes and 2-3 spoonfuls of sun-cried tomato puree with the wine. Season with black pepper - we think it is generally salty enough from the mussels but add salt if you feel you need to. Mix well before adding the mussels. Half-way through cooking, add a good handful of freshly chopped coriander - if you can't get coriander, then flat-leafed parsley also works.

 

[crosslandkelly]

My favourite mussel recipe is "Mussels in Tomato and Chilli Sauce". Delicious.

1kg mussels – debearded and cleaned 2 tbsp olive oil 150g cherry tomatoes - quartered 1 shallot – roughly chopped 2 cloves garlic – finely chopped 1 red chilli – finely chopped 1 tbsp tomato paste ½ lemon rind 1 tsp sugar Handful parsley – chopped 1/3 glass white wine Pinch of salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large pan on medium heat and add the shallot, garlic and chilli. Fry until the onions begin to soften, stir in the tomato paste and heat for 1 minute more, then add in the tomatoes, lemon rind and juice, sugar and wine. Bring the sauce to the boil, stirring regularly, then reduce the heat and cook for roughly 8 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce. Add the mussels and cook for 3 further minutes, until the mussels have opened, then add the parsley and season to taste.

 

[Broch]

There's nothing better than fresh picked muscles off the North west coast of Scotland simply steamed with sea water on the beach. But in the kitchen (or at camp) I'll either do classical Moule Mariniere (with or without cream, both are delicious) or green Thai - basically steamed in a green Thai curry sauce; you can work out a suitable recipe yourselves

With fresh cooked bread of course!

 

[Robson Valley]

Now we're going places! Thanks all. I want to try Mike313 trick of frying the bread. Flat leaf parsley is a favorite too.
Also, Crosslandkelly's mussel brew will be on the list to try.

The fresh bread thing is really easy. I need a big bowl and a stick. Fun task.
Most of the time, I'm willing to let my Hamilton Beach stand mixer do the work.
I've made all sorts of bready things for many years. Imagine ripping up a big garlic fougasse for this?

Price: Do you all in the UK consider mussels to be an expensive treat or down-to-earth shellfish food?
It's just a rare and uncommon food for when I get to the city. I can eat 1/2kg or more so never blink at the price.
I heard we get mussels from the East Coast by airfreight, that's 4,000 miles (6,400 km) from here.

 

[Broch]

Price: Do you all in the UK consider mussels to be an expensive treat or down-to-earth shellfish food?
It's just a rare and uncommon food for when I get to the city. I can eat 1/2kg or more so never blink at the price.
I heard we get mussels from the East Coast by airfreight, that's 4,000 miles (6,400 km) from here.

On the Isle of Mull (and probably lots of places on the west coast of Scotland) you can buy a bag of mussels for next to nothing on the side of the road; just put the money in an honesty box. On wild beaches we pick our own; doesn't get cheaper than that!

 

[Robson Valley]

I wish! There's daily Purolator courier delivery service between McBride (130 miles) and the city fish shop.
I can have a kilo of mussels delivered out here, 6 days a week, for $40.00 (approx 25 Sterling.) Not.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Just add them to the cioppino.

Cioppino?

 

[crosslandkelly]

Not tried this before, but I will now.
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/seafood-recipes/thai-style-mussels/

 

[Robson Valley]

Cioppino is a fish stew, a bouillabaisse, from San Francisco.

I want a mild sauce with chunks of visible tomato in it.

 

[Janne]

Italian. The Italian immigrants took them to SF.

I like those Greenlipped kiwi mussels, but being very, very meaty they need a more concentrated sauce.

 

[baggins]

I like mine smoked. Steamed until open, then bunged on the smoker with alder wood foe 10 mins. dressed in a bit of olive oil, they are delicious.

 

[Robson Valley]

Who is not an immigrant in the Americas?

First Nations will shuck and string 50 on a cord and hang those in the smoke house with alder wood.
They have been cultivating mussels, clams and oysters for many thousands of years.

I need some tomatoes in this.

 

[Janne]

I am not an immigrant. I am an expat.
In 3 years time I will raise in the ranks and become an Immigrant, a 'paper Caymanian'!

I love those tinned Smoked Mussels and Smoked Oysters.
I am sure the Real Deal must be 100 times better!