Home-Cooked Mussels

Currently, I am playing in the pit orchestra of a production of Into the Woods. Not being a huge musical theatre person myself, the experience of being in a pit orchestra is always fascinating. You play the same music over and over again, recur the same melodies for characters, yet you constantly have no idea what is going on up on stage. Your hear snippets of dialogue and lyrics coming through the feedback, but otherwise you have no idea how productive the cast is being above your head. It's an odd sensation to be that disconnected from something that you are intricately participating in. Sometimes it can be a metaphor for life, amirite? I won't get to heady here, but it's just an interesting situation to be in. That being said, if you're local to me at the moment, we have three more shows on Wed/Thurs/Fri of this week so you should come check it out! I've heard it's pretty well done (not that I would really know).



Perhaps I can link the disconnected participation with cooking with Will sometimes - he does all the work, but I do all the follow up here! Hah! However, this recipe is an example of one of our "all hands on deck" experiences, because it was a total experiment. We had no idea until we were eating these little suckers whether or not they had turned out. I strongly recommend that you read through The Kitchn article before trying out this recipe, mostly to see pictures of what mussels are/are not safe to consume, how to debarred, etc. We would not have been successful without that cooking leadership! Once you get the basics of what is/is not okay to consume, mussels are relatively straightforward. Throw the suckers and some liquid in a pot an voilà! You have yourself a fancy schmancy seafood dinner. It's worth the experiment if you've got a little extra money in your budget to buy mussels and want to try something new in the kitchen!

Cooking Notes: We used beer (Alewerks Belgian Brunette), not wine, as was recommended in the original recipe. We also chose to half the recipe, since mussels are expensive. Lastly, the original recipe recommended sopping up the juices with a crusty bread, but we went for the alternate route of French fries instead!

Home-Cooked Mussels (adapted from The Kitchn; serves 2)
2 lbs. mussels
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup veggie broth
1/2 cup amber beer (Alewerks Belgian Brunette)
Minced parsley, to garnish
Lemon wedges, to garnish

Begin by dumping the mussels in a large strainer and checking them over. All the mussels should be tightly closed - discard any with cracked shells. If you find any open mussels, tap them lightly against the counter and if after a few minutes the shell doesn't close, discard the mussel. (See The Kitchn post if you aren't sure about how open or closed your mussels appear). If your mussels aren't already, debarred them by looking for a group of short brown strings coming out one side. Grab the strings with your fingers and tug gently from side to side until it comes out. No worries if you don't get them all - it's not harmful to eat, just unpleasant.

Once the mussels are prepped, minced your garlic and shallots. Warm your olive oil in a large, wide saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the minced garlic and shallots to sauté until translucent, about 1-2 minutes. When the fragrances are prepared, add the mussels to the pot. Pour the broth and beer over the mussels, then immediately cover the pan and cook with the lid on for 5 minutes. Shake the pan once or twice during cooking, to redistribute the mussels. After 5 minutes, remove the lid and check the mussels - most of them should be open by now. If they aren't, recover and cook for another 1-2 minutes (get rid of any mussels that aren't open after this point).

Serve straight from the pan or in a serving bowl with the sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and lemon squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over top. Serve with a starch and enjoy!

Recipe: The Kitchn: How to Make Quick and Easy Steamed Mussels