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seafood - mussels, steamed, wine, garlic, sauce

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These recipes are for your personal use only and may not be added in any form to archives other works.

Mussels in White Wine and Garlic
When we lived in Belgium, we very often enjoyed various dishes of steamed mussels for which the Belgians are also famous for. Just a chat at the fish shop regarding approximate proportions is all that is needed to prepare this simple dish!

serves 2

1-1/2 kilo mussels
3 T. parsley
sm. stalk of celery with leaves
1 medium onion
4-6 cloves of garlic
300 ml. white wine

If they are not already prepared, remove the 'beards' from the mussels by firmly pulling out and towards the hinge. Remove any barnacles growing on the shells with a small knife, or rub them firmly together under cold running water. Test any mussels that are open by tapping them. If they close, they are still fresh. If they do not, discard.

Chop the onion finely and mince the garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add the wine and 2 T. of the parsley bring to the boil, drop in the mussels and give a good stir first before covering. Steam until they open (just a few minutes). Discard any that do not open.

Lift out with a skimmer and place in large deep plates (soup plates) and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle over the parsley before serving and serve with plenty of bread to soak up the delicious sauce or as the Belgians prefer, with a large serving of French Fried Potatoes!

Variations on above basic recipe:

Mussels Provincial - sauté a handful of red and green peppers cut into strips. Add eighths of tomatoes with the mussels and a good grating of pepper and 1 t. sweet paprika.

Mussels with Cream - add a good splash of cream (sm. glass) with the mussels.

Mussels Jardinero - sauté a thinly sliced carrot, one stalk of celery cut into 1 cm. pieces, a stalk or two of parsley, a little finely cut fennel (a small, tender fennel) cut into half rings. Add 1 tomato cut into eights and a little fish or vegetable broth with the mussels.

All recipes are excerpts from "Welcome to My Kitchen" - The Epicurean Table and are copyright of the author. Recipes are not to be added to any form of archive or other works of any kind. Contact the author for further information.