Mussels in Aromatic Broth
Another Gordon Ramsay recipe.
Shopping LIst
- 2-4 lbs mussels (how many you feeding? How much do you LOVE MUSSELS?). When shopping for mussels, make sure they are all tightly closed when you handle them - that's how you tell a live mussel. If a mussel is opened, don't buy it - it's dead.
- Thyme
- A stalk of lemongrass
- spring onions
- 1 red pepper
- garlic
- cilantro
- dry white wine
- olive oil
Prep
Pour yourself a glass of white wine. Make sure it's nice and cold. Enjoy it - it's hot outside, and you've been working hard.
OK, time to make something tasty. Rinse the mussels under running water. If you're lucky, your fishmonger cleaned them already. If not, soak them in a bowl of water for a half hour, and then pull off their beards (the little bit of fuzzy stuff that stick out of the shells).
Take your pan, and toss it on the range to heat it up. You want it nice and hot. Also measure out about 100ml of wine. Also grab a couple sprigs of thyme. Oh, this needs to be a pan you have a nice tight lid for. That's important.
Chop the lemongrass. It can be a bit tough, so make sure you rock its world. Chop up the spring onion. Chop your red pepper - roll it in your hands first to loosen the seeds, then chop the top off. Dump the seeds out, then chop up the pepper. Grab a couple of garlic cloves - don't bother peeling them. Instead lay it on your chopping block, put your knife flat on it, and give it a slap. Flip it over, do it again.
Finally, you're going to need bowls. At least three or four. Maybe more. Various sizes.
Cook
Have another glass of wine, if you're dry. Things are about to get delicious. You've got a nice hot pan now, let's do something with it. Take your mussels, drain any water from them if you were soaking them, and then toss them into your hot pan. We're going to steam these little bastards! Pour in the 100ml of wine, take a few more sips from your glass, then add a few sprigs of thyme. Put the lid on, and shake shake shake! Things are getting exciting now! Keep shaking periodically, that will move the mussels around over the heat.
Let that thing go for 3 minutes. Those muscles are going to steam. If you watch them, you'll see this lovely white liquid start forming in the pan. That's the liquor from the mussels, and it tastes amazing. Whenever you cook mussels you will get that liquor, and you should always use it. Don't ever pour the liquor down the drain!
OK, three minutes are up. Get a collander, put it over a bowl, and dump the mussels into it. Remember when I said you should never waste the liquor? If you don't, then lay off the white wine, you've had enough. Jeez, that was just like a paragraph ago!
Anyway, drain the mussels and collect the liquor. That pan you were using? Put it back on the heat (turn the heat down a bit, maybe to medium). Splash some olive oil in there, and toss in all those veggies you chopped. Let them sizzle for a little bit. Now, that mussel liquor (you do remember it right? Good, have another glass of wine) - dump it into the pan. You're going to let that reduce by about half. The liquor is going to soak up the flavor of all those lovely veggies you put in there. Add a little bit of salt and some pepper and smell it. Isn't that awesome? Trust me, it's just about to get better.
While you reduce the liquor you're going to pull about half your mussels out of their shells. Pull one out of its shell and eat it . Trust me, it's going to be delicious. Now use the shell from the mussel you just ate to scoop about half the mussels out of their shells onto a plate. Put the rest in a bowl - that's the bowl you're going to serve them in. Cover it in some saran wrap to keep them warm. Eat one or two more mussels. They're delicious!
Last but not least - loosely chop up some cilantro.
OK, so you've got a pan full of vegetables with some liquor that's been reducing. When about half of it is gone, add the coconut milk. How much to add is really up to you - if you've got a lot of mussels a full can is good. If you've got more like 2lbs, then closer to half a can. Drop half the cilantro in, and bring that mess to a lovely boil. That coconut milk is going to mix with the liquor from the mussels and soak up all the flavor from the veggies.
OK, that mess in the pan is really boiling - the milk should be foaming some. We're almost done. Get another bowl and a strainer. Dump the broth through the strainer into the bowl - leaving all the veggie bits behind. Use your spoon to squeeze the veggies in there, get every last bit of broth.
OK, we're almost done. That bowl of mussels, with the Saran Wrap? Pull off the plastic. Grab the mussels you pulled from their shells, and put them on top of the pile of mussles in the bowl. Take a handful of chopped cilantro, and drop it on top. Now take the broth, and ladle it over the mussels.
Serving
Forks are handy, so are spoons. But honestly? You're going to eat these with your fingers. Grab a de-shelled mussel, and one in its shell. Use the shell as a spoon to pour broth over the other one. Eat it. Thank me later. Serve with some nice crusty bread to soak up all the broth.
Shopping LIst
- 2-4 lbs mussels (how many you feeding? How much do you LOVE MUSSELS?). When shopping for mussels, make sure they are all tightly closed when you handle them - that's how you tell a live mussel. If a mussel is opened, don't buy it - it's dead.
- Thyme
- A stalk of lemongrass
- spring onions
- 1 red pepper
- garlic
- cilantro
- dry white wine
- olive oil
Prep
Pour yourself a glass of white wine. Make sure it's nice and cold. Enjoy it - it's hot outside, and you've been working hard.
OK, time to make something tasty. Rinse the mussels under running water. If you're lucky, your fishmonger cleaned them already. If not, soak them in a bowl of water for a half hour, and then pull off their beards (the little bit of fuzzy stuff that stick out of the shells).
Take your pan, and toss it on the range to heat it up. You want it nice and hot. Also measure out about 100ml of wine. Also grab a couple sprigs of thyme. Oh, this needs to be a pan you have a nice tight lid for. That's important.
Chop the lemongrass. It can be a bit tough, so make sure you rock its world. Chop up the spring onion. Chop your red pepper - roll it in your hands first to loosen the seeds, then chop the top off. Dump the seeds out, then chop up the pepper. Grab a couple of garlic cloves - don't bother peeling them. Instead lay it on your chopping block, put your knife flat on it, and give it a slap. Flip it over, do it again.
Finally, you're going to need bowls. At least three or four. Maybe more. Various sizes.
Cook
Have another glass of wine, if you're dry. Things are about to get delicious. You've got a nice hot pan now, let's do something with it. Take your mussels, drain any water from them if you were soaking them, and then toss them into your hot pan. We're going to steam these little bastards! Pour in the 100ml of wine, take a few more sips from your glass, then add a few sprigs of thyme. Put the lid on, and shake shake shake! Things are getting exciting now! Keep shaking periodically, that will move the mussels around over the heat.
Let that thing go for 3 minutes. Those muscles are going to steam. If you watch them, you'll see this lovely white liquid start forming in the pan. That's the liquor from the mussels, and it tastes amazing. Whenever you cook mussels you will get that liquor, and you should always use it. Don't ever pour the liquor down the drain!
OK, three minutes are up. Get a collander, put it over a bowl, and dump the mussels into it. Remember when I said you should never waste the liquor? If you don't, then lay off the white wine, you've had enough. Jeez, that was just like a paragraph ago!
Anyway, drain the mussels and collect the liquor. That pan you were using? Put it back on the heat (turn the heat down a bit, maybe to medium). Splash some olive oil in there, and toss in all those veggies you chopped. Let them sizzle for a little bit. Now, that mussel liquor (you do remember it right? Good, have another glass of wine) - dump it into the pan. You're going to let that reduce by about half. The liquor is going to soak up the flavor of all those lovely veggies you put in there. Add a little bit of salt and some pepper and smell it. Isn't that awesome? Trust me, it's just about to get better.
While you reduce the liquor you're going to pull about half your mussels out of their shells. Pull one out of its shell and eat it . Trust me, it's going to be delicious. Now use the shell from the mussel you just ate to scoop about half the mussels out of their shells onto a plate. Put the rest in a bowl - that's the bowl you're going to serve them in. Cover it in some saran wrap to keep them warm. Eat one or two more mussels. They're delicious!
Last but not least - loosely chop up some cilantro.
OK, so you've got a pan full of vegetables with some liquor that's been reducing. When about half of it is gone, add the coconut milk. How much to add is really up to you - if you've got a lot of mussels a full can is good. If you've got more like 2lbs, then closer to half a can. Drop half the cilantro in, and bring that mess to a lovely boil. That coconut milk is going to mix with the liquor from the mussels and soak up all the flavor from the veggies.
OK, that mess in the pan is really boiling - the milk should be foaming some. We're almost done. Get another bowl and a strainer. Dump the broth through the strainer into the bowl - leaving all the veggie bits behind. Use your spoon to squeeze the veggies in there, get every last bit of broth.
OK, we're almost done. That bowl of mussels, with the Saran Wrap? Pull off the plastic. Grab the mussels you pulled from their shells, and put them on top of the pile of mussles in the bowl. Take a handful of chopped cilantro, and drop it on top. Now take the broth, and ladle it over the mussels.
Serving
Forks are handy, so are spoons. But honestly? You're going to eat these with your fingers. Grab a de-shelled mussel, and one in its shell. Use the shell as a spoon to pour broth over the other one. Eat it. Thank me later. Serve with some nice crusty bread to soak up all the broth.