Television Feasts

I am a home cook who backyard gardens and has a serious closet addiction to the Food Network. I envision visiting the world in my own kitchen.

From Julia to Giada, I am a bi-product of the quirky world of anything food television. At age 10 I wanted to lunch with Julia; at 12 I thought sitting at Graham Kerr's table would be bliss; in college I was a diligent voyeur student of Jeff Smith's; and as a newlywed I envisioned myself being Martha. Then the sky opened up and violin music played in the background when I discovered an entire family of food shows on the blossoming food network. Twenty years later I am still a home chef with a backyard garden, yet in my head I am a trained chef who has eaten her way around the world, tasted all things exotic, competed in many challenges, judged the best of the best, and have a circle of friends which includes Emeril, Bobby, Rachael and more. I like to learn and challenge myself simply for the pleasure of all things food. I am a student of the University of Food Network and my textbooks, exams and extra-curricular activities all stem from channel 39.


Friday, December 19, 2014

Savory Mussels

I hit all of my cooking criteria with this dish (and please note I am actually posting on time!). Something I have never cooked before-check.  Something on sale and inexpensive ($3.99!)-check.  Something that does not make a ton of mess to clean up-check.  And, lastly, delicious-check!  I looked at the mesh bag of mussels (the check out girl looked at them in disbelief and thought I was buying cold rocks!), and thought really?  Are they fresh? What do I do with them?  But then I figured for $3.99 (a latte in some places) I would get enjoyment out of learning about them.  I have cooked clams before and they couldn't be much different.
Don't be intimidated to try them.  It is very apparent which ones not to eat while you are cleaning and cooking them.  The hardest part I found was pulling the little 'beard' thing from them as I scrubbed them.  Tough little suckers and those mussels inside did not give them up easily!  Scrub 'em, debeard 'em and put 'em in a bowl of ice water till you are ready to cook.
Note, it is the sauce that makes this fabulous.  You cannot serve without nice crunchy bread to sop it all up, otherwise you will pick your bowl up and lick it and that is not mannerly!

Savory Mussels
printable recipe

2-3 lbs. mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
Olive Oil
3 T. butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. dried Thyme
1 c. dry white wine
Parsley for garnish

Rinse the mussels under cold water and scrub with a vegetable brush.  pull off the mussel beards as you wash them.  Discard any mussels with broken shells.
Heat 1 T. olive oil and 1 T. butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the shallots and garlic.  Cook until very soft. 
Add the Thyme and stir.  Cook for an additional minute.
Add the mussels and swirl the pot to coat them.
Add the wine.  Cover and steam over medium high heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so all mussels are in contact with the heat and all mussels open.  If for some reason any don't open, pull out and discard.
Add the remaining 2 T. butter and a drizzle of olive oil.  Stir gently to incorporate the melted butter into the sauce.
Serve with sauce and garnish with parsley.
 


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