by Simon Stallard from The Hidden Hut (Harper Collins) Photography by Susan Bell & Sally Mitchell
These recipes are a celebration of this British delicacy. Steaming is the most common way to cook mussels, but here are a few ideas for baking and grilling them too.
First you prepare the mussels. Scrub the mussel shells with a stiff brush and rinse under cold running water. Discard any mussels that remain open after being sharply tapped. Scrape off any barnacles and remove the beards with a small knife. Rinse well.
Each recipe serves 4
Ingredients
50g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
8 rashers of smoked bacon, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
100g thyme sprigs
200ml chicken stock
500ml beer
1tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp light brown sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
200ml double cream
1.5kg mussels, cleaned (as above)
Method
Prepare and heat up your barbecue. Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan over a medium-high heat and, when the butter has melted, cook the bacon for 4 minutes until crispy. Add the garlic and thyme, and cook for 1 minute, then add the stock, beer, mustard and sugar. Bring to the boil and cook for 1 minute, then add the lemon juice and cream. Stir and put to one side.
Meanwhile, grill the mussels on the barbecue grill rack until just starting to open, then transfer to the saucepan and cook for 1 minute over a medium heat. Discard any mussels that haven’t opened, and serve. (Alternatively, cook the mussels in the pan: add them with the garlic and thyme, then cover the pan with a lid and cook for 2 minutes or until they are open).
Baked Mussels with Fennel and Leek
Ingredients
2 leeks, sliced
2 fennel bulbs, sliced
60ml olive oil
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp fennel seeds
1.5kg mussels, cleaned (as above)
100ml Pernod or pastis
300ml fish stock
150g butter, diced
50g tarragon leaves, chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan / gas mark 7). Put the leeks and fennel in a large roasting tin. Add the oil, salt and fennel seeds, then bake for 10 mins or until the vegetables are softening.
Add the mussels and bake for 5 mins more. Add the Pernod, stock and butter and cook in the oven for another 3 mins. Discard any mussels that haven’t opened. Stir in the tarragon and serve.
Steamed Mussels with Samphire, Garlic and Wine
Ingredients
50g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3 onions, sliced
10 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 bay leaves
1.5kg mussels, cleaned (as above)
600ml white wine
200g samphire
200ml double cream
75g parsley leaves, chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt
Method
Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and sweat the onions, garlic and bay leaves until softened but not coloured.
Add the mussels and the white wine, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Cook for 3 mins over a high heat until all the mussels have opened – discard any that haven’t.
Add the samphire and cream, and cook for 1 more minute, then add the parsley, lemon juice and pepper. Taste and add salt if it needs it (it will depend on how salty the mussels and samphire are). Serve.
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