Steamed Mussels - perfect lunch in the Outer Banks!

This weekend Mark and I had a nice little get-away in the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina. We are forever indebted to his parents who let us stay at their amazing house in Corolla. It has become a new tradition that Corolla = one meal of steamed mussels at some point during the weekend. Mussels are light, tasty, and budget-friendly!! A perfect lunch, indeed!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb Mussels
• 1.5 cup Chicken Broth
• 1/4 cup White Wine
• 3-4 Fresh Garlic Cloves
• 2-3 Fresh Shallots
• 1 Tbsp. Butter
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 Large or 2 Small Baguettes

Before we left Richmond, I stopped at one of my favorite local seafood markets, The Yellow Umbrella, to select fresh seafood to take on our trip. I got 1.5 pounds of mussels to split between the 2 of us. The first time I bought mussels, I was so pleasantly surprised at how CHEAP they were. Even at Yellow Umbrella, where I usually spend an arm and a leg to get a filet of fish, the mussels are only about $6 per pound. Not too shabby! Keeping them cold is key. I had them in a cooler, on ice for our entire drive. Once we arrived at our destination, I kept the mussels in their plastic bag, put the bag in a colander, put the colander on a paper towel-covered plate, and lastly put a bag of ice on top of the mussels. Keep refridgerated until ready to cook. See below.

When you are ready to start cooking, dump the mussels into the colander. Run cold water over them to clean them. Discard any mussels that are open or cracked.




All clean!

   


Example Mussel to Discard. The shell was cracked on this one.

  
Next, prep the garlic and shallots. Chop the garlic into small pieces or use a garlic press. Cut the shallots as you see below.

Next, heat a deep sauce pan over medium heat. Add butter. When butter has melted, add garlic and shallots.

Cook garlic and shallots for a few minutes. You want them to soften, but not to brown.

When this is accomplished, add the wine and allow the wine to cook down until almost gone.

When wine is almost gone, add the chicken broth and a dash of salt & pepper. When broth is hot, time to add all of your mussels to the pan.

Cover sauce pan and allow mussels to steam for several minutes. Keep an eye on them. When it appears that most of the mussel shells are open, take the sauce pan off the heated burner, so as to not over-cook.

For practical purposes, I used a slotted spoon to remove the mussels from the pan and put them in a large bowl. I then took the remaining broth, onions, and garlic and divided it between 2 small bowls (1 for each of us) to make for easy dipping. Remember to also have a "discard" bowl on the table for empty shells. Each of us also had a small baguette for dipping into the broth.

Keep in mind, that this doesn't have to be served as an entree. Reduce the amounts above and you have yourself a nice little appetizer.

Mussels are not for everyone. :) It took me a while to develop a taste for mollusks (mussels, oysters, clams, etc...), but don't knock them til you try them!! And dipping your baguette into that broth.....just amazing! Mark loves this meal and so do I. All thumbs up!!! :)