I consider myself really fortunate as I live about 20 mins of walk from Billingsgate Fish Market in east London so getting fresh seafood at a really reasonable price (=cheap) is really not a problem for me (apart from the fact that I still need to get up around 5am to arrive to the market 6ish) You can get everything from fresh lobsters to scallops, crabs and oysters and hundreds of different fishes, so its a real heaven for everyone who are into seafood. Like I said, in most cases it’s cheap and the rest is still reasonable, at least half price to any supermarket and obviously even more savings to restaurant pricing with the trade off being the chef, the waiter and you have to deal with the dirty plates too. But cooking is fun, and you can easily produce restaurant quality dishes with some experience.
This is a really simple recipe with only a few ingredients and a short preparation / cooking time: Lets start with the mussels, when I buy the I’m looking for those that are clean on the outside as removing grime would highly increase the preparation time and once bought and until ready to cook, keep them in the fridge. First prepare a bowl large enough to hold all the mussels and fill with enough cold water to cover them. Start cleaning the mussels by removing the beards, best way to do this by grabbing it with your fingers and pulling it back and forth until it comes out or you can use your fingers and a short bladed knife. Discard all the damaged, broken or dead pieces (if the shell is open just push it gently to close, if it stays closed the mussel is still alive) and remove any grime, impurities or residue from the shells using a scrub brush or the short bladed knife. Once cleaned place the mussel into the bowl filled with water. Once finished cleaning all the mussels leave it under running cold water / or change the water until it’s clean. (For a really useful guide on how to clean mussels click HERE )
Now we can start cooking: cut once shallot and one clove of garlic finely, heat olive oil over medium heat in a pot that can easily accommodate all the mussels add the shallot and garlic and saute them until golden (3-5mins) stirring it frequently. Once ready add the white wine turn up the heat let most of the alcohol from the wine to evaporate and finally add the mussels too. Cover the pot with the lid and shake it once in every 2 mins, giving it about six minutes to steam. Once all the mussels are open (remove closed ones) pour the cooking liquid through a sieve into a small pot (leave the mussels in the original one with the lid on) add the cream, some ground pepper, a half tablespoon of mustard and let it simmer over medium-high heat until it thickens a bit. Finally add a handful of finely chopped chives and pour it back to the mussels. The mussels should be hot enough to be served, but if the are not, give them two mins again over high heat.
Divide the mussels into the bowls and add baguettes, sourdough bread or fries as sides. (I prefer the bread, there’s no bread i couldn’t eat while dipping it into the amazing sauce)
Classic Mussels with Cream
Ingredients
- - 1kg Mussels (2 for main 3-4 as appetizer)
- - 1 Shallot finely chopped
- - 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
- - Handful of chives finely chopped
- - 100ml duuble cream
- - 50ml dry red wine
- - 1/2 tablespoon of mustard
- - 1 teaspoon of ground pepper
Directions
- Step 1 – Clean the mussels
- Step 2 - Sautee the garlic and shallot over medium heat until golden 3 to 5 mins
- Step 3 - Turn up the heat add white wine, evaporate the alcohol 2 mins
- Step 4 - Add the mussels, steam them until all open about 6 mins – shake the pot once in a while
- Step 5 - strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into a small pot
- Step 6 - heat the cooking liquid over high heat, add mustard, double-cream, ground pepper, let it thicken a bit and finally add the chopped chives
- Step 7 - add sauce to mussels, reheat if needed
- Step 8 - serve with baguette, sourdough bread or chips