Seafood Heaven, Or, Dare to Cook Mussels

I am Jewish, but ethnically so, not religiously. As a result, though shellfish was not a staple of my childhood diet, it has become so as an adult.

I discovered fried shrimp in college, one of the only good things the cafeteria produced.  Eating out with friends, I tried steamed shrimp and stuffed clams, and loved both.

I'd always liked clam chowder, but until going to Cape Cod with my parents I had never experienced the real sort. Since then, I have learned to make a pretty good version of my own, as well as a tomato based type (not Manhattan) that I will post whenever I get time to write the recipe down.

And then I moved to Virginia and discovered CRAB!

Steamed crab.  Baked crab meat. Crab cakes. Cream of crab soup. Maryland crab soup.

My mouth waters as I write this--good thing it's almost dinner time!

The first time I had mussels was at my own wedding. It was in an Italian restaurant my parents love, the mussels were in a tomato sauce, and they were fabulous!

One of my fondest memories of that wedding lunch was my brother-in-laws having a mussel eating contest. It's a fun family to cook for!!

Anyway, recently I tried frozen versions and enjoyed them. But it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I dared to cook them. I was in our wonderful local fish place, saw them, and decided to be adventurous.

They are SOOO easy to make,  and so FAST that I went to the store  Friday  at lunch time, bought them, went home, cooked them, and ate a good amount of them for lunch.

Here's my method. It's pretty standard--you'll find good variations in Nigella Lawson's How To Eat, in Jane Brody's Good Seafood Book and many other cookbooks. Mine is the most basic and only takes minutes to make.

Fabulous Frantic Mussels (probably serves about 3, depending on how you serve them!)

Mussels generally come in a 2 pound  net bag. Bring them home and cook them immediately, if possible, otherwise store in the bag in the refridgerator, preferably resting in a dish of ice!

Rinse mussels well under  cold running water. Pick through and discard any that are open--unless they close when their shells are tapped they are DEAD!  If there are any bits of "beard" hanging on the shells, just pull gently--they'll come off.

In a large heavy pot (I use a 4qt dutch oven), heat just enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of your pan.  Throw in a generous handful of dehyrated chopped onion and stir till oil coated. Add a large spoonful of minced garlic (I use the jarred kind for stuff like this). 

Cook for a minute or two, stirrring--DON'T let the onions burn!  Add white wine--at least 1/2 cup, and 1 cup is better--more sauce. Heat until the wine is really hot. Toss in the mussels quickly and cover.

Set a timer for 5 minutes and let them steam. You can open the pot after about 2 minutes and stir, but it isn't truly necessary.

At 5 minutes, shut the heat and let them sit another minute. Remove the lid gently--STEAM!!

All mussels should be open now--discard any that are not.  Remove from the pot and eat any way you like. My favorites are over rice or pasta, using the liquids for a sauce, or over pasta, tossed with olive oil and chopped tomatoes.

Notes:

Lliquids may have a bit of grit from the mussels. This is normal--you can strain it.

You can serve the mussels on the shell, but generally I shell them before putting them on my rice, pasta, what have you. It's also easier to store them shelled--they take up less space!

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