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So I was wandering around sainsburys last night. Thinking to myself: 'I fancy a pizza tonight, wonder what they've got'.
Ambled over to the fish counter, bought some marinated anchovy fillets and the lady behind the counter said: 'we've got some bargains over here'.
She wasn't joking lol
Ended up with around 2.5 lb bag of live mussels and some stupidly cheap fresh tuna (for tonight - stirfry I think).
Forget the pizza I was having mussels for dinner !
So this is my take on Moules Marinieres.
Get yourself a very large saucepan.
Add about 2 oz butter, melt over a low heat and add finely chopped small onion and a clove of garlic.
Then add 2 tsp MH
Cook gently until the onions are translucent.
Add about 2 small glasses of white wine and bring to a low simmer.
Now traditionally the mariniere sauce is made pretty quickly, and a becuase of this I think it can be a little harsh. I like to cook it longer and make sure all the alcohol has evaporated, this gives a smoother tasting and more rounded sauce.
I also apply the italian method of adding the remaining wine little and often, and simmering off the alcohol between each addition.
Add about a tablespoon at a time - little and fairly often. Think I used about 1/2 a bottle wine in total.
Okay so after about 10 mins or so simmering, add about 2 tbs ketchup.
As well as adding wine little and often
Also keep tasting it and keep adding MH until you get a nice bit of heat.
If it's tasting a little sharp add a couple of tsps of sugar.
Leave the sauce simmering while you sort the mussels out.
You need to remove the beards. I recommend pliers.
For those who don't have a gerber permanently attached to your belt - normal pliers will do :-)
Put de-bearded mussels into sink of cold water.
Discard any mussels that don't close (later you'll discard any that don't open - try not to get the two mixed up, shellfish poisoning is very unpleasant
:-)
Once de-bearded. Check the sauce. If you think it's ready, bring to a boil.
No rush, if necessary add more wine, MH, sugar etc and continue simmering.
Bring sauce to a hard boil and add the mussels and put lid on saucepan.
Cook for 4-6 mins.
Mussels are ready when they are all gaping open - discard any that do not open (see previous note :-)
Now traditionally with mariniere at this point you add cream and stir it in.
Didn't have any cream so added greek yoghurt instead. About 2 good tablespoons.
Stir in thoroughly and continue to cook for about another minute.
That's it, done.
To serve.
Using a slotted spoon add a lot of mussels to a large pasta dish.
Then ladle sauce over the top.
Serve with crusty bread, a bowl for the empty shells, a small fork to remove mussels from shells, a soup spoon and a glass of mexican beer
Now this amount would have been plenty for 2 people.
So after removing the remainder of the mussels from the shells I put what was left in a bag and in the fridge for lunch later in the week :-)
Cooked mussels will keep fine - fresh ones you use as soon as possible.
See previous remark about shellfish poisoning
Ambled over to the fish counter, bought some marinated anchovy fillets and the lady behind the counter said: 'we've got some bargains over here'.
She wasn't joking lol
Ended up with around 2.5 lb bag of live mussels and some stupidly cheap fresh tuna (for tonight - stirfry I think).
Forget the pizza I was having mussels for dinner !
So this is my take on Moules Marinieres.
Get yourself a very large saucepan.
Add about 2 oz butter, melt over a low heat and add finely chopped small onion and a clove of garlic.
Then add 2 tsp MH
Cook gently until the onions are translucent.
Add about 2 small glasses of white wine and bring to a low simmer.
Now traditionally the mariniere sauce is made pretty quickly, and a becuase of this I think it can be a little harsh. I like to cook it longer and make sure all the alcohol has evaporated, this gives a smoother tasting and more rounded sauce.
I also apply the italian method of adding the remaining wine little and often, and simmering off the alcohol between each addition.
Add about a tablespoon at a time - little and fairly often. Think I used about 1/2 a bottle wine in total.
Okay so after about 10 mins or so simmering, add about 2 tbs ketchup.
As well as adding wine little and often
Also keep tasting it and keep adding MH until you get a nice bit of heat.
If it's tasting a little sharp add a couple of tsps of sugar.
Leave the sauce simmering while you sort the mussels out.
You need to remove the beards. I recommend pliers.
For those who don't have a gerber permanently attached to your belt - normal pliers will do :-)
Put de-bearded mussels into sink of cold water.
Discard any mussels that don't close (later you'll discard any that don't open - try not to get the two mixed up, shellfish poisoning is very unpleasant
:-)Once de-bearded. Check the sauce. If you think it's ready, bring to a boil.
No rush, if necessary add more wine, MH, sugar etc and continue simmering.
Bring sauce to a hard boil and add the mussels and put lid on saucepan.
Cook for 4-6 mins.
Mussels are ready when they are all gaping open - discard any that do not open (see previous note :-)
Now traditionally with mariniere at this point you add cream and stir it in.
Didn't have any cream so added greek yoghurt instead. About 2 good tablespoons.
Stir in thoroughly and continue to cook for about another minute.
That's it, done.
To serve.
Using a slotted spoon add a lot of mussels to a large pasta dish.
Then ladle sauce over the top.
Serve with crusty bread, a bowl for the empty shells, a small fork to remove mussels from shells, a soup spoon and a glass of mexican beer
Now this amount would have been plenty for 2 people.
So after removing the remainder of the mussels from the shells I put what was left in a bag and in the fridge for lunch later in the week :-)
Cooked mussels will keep fine - fresh ones you use as soon as possible.
See previous remark about shellfish poisoning
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Not that I'm complaining lol
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