I think mussels are not made in home kitchens nearly enough, if you ask me! They are nutritious, extremely easy to make and generally very affordable (depending on the region you live the affordability may vary.)
Oh did I say it already?! They are easy! Easy and quick to make!
My favourite way to prepare the mussels, is to simply steam them in some chicken stock (especially if making for kids and wine is not an option.) Then eat them right out of the pot, along with the crusty bread to soak up the delicious broth.
Restaurants take it a step further by adding cold butter and stirring it aggressively to emulsify into luxurious restaurant-quality sauce. I omit this step for homemade mussels. But if you are after impressing your guests – feel free to use this tip!
Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a main dish.
Clean your mussels - scrape them as needed and rinse under the running cold water. Heat butter in a large stock pot. Sautee the veggies until soft. Do not brown. Add wine. Bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, add the mussels and cover. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring half way until they open up. Discard any mussels that didn't open. Serve, garnished with parsley and lemon slices with a piece of crusty bread.
Clean your mussels - scrape them as needed and rinse under the running cold water. Heat butter in a large stock pot. Sautee the veggies until soft. Do not brown. Add chicken stock. Bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, add the mussels and cover. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring half way until the mussels open up. Discard any mussels that didn't open. Serve, garnished with parsley and lemon slices with a piece of crusty bread.
Cook in accordance with one of the recipes above, but when finished cooking, remove the mussels to a plate, add a knob of cold butter and a splash of lemon juice to the sauce and stir vigorously to emulsify it into a thick and rich sauce. Pour over mussels. Serve, garnished with parsley and lemon slices with a piece of crusty bread.
Ingredients
Directions
Clean your mussels - scrape them as needed and rinse under the running cold water. Heat butter in a large stock pot. Sautee the veggies until soft. Do not brown. Add wine. Bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, add the mussels and cover. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring half way until they open up. Discard any mussels that didn't open. Serve, garnished with parsley and lemon slices with a piece of crusty bread.
Clean your mussels - scrape them as needed and rinse under the running cold water. Heat butter in a large stock pot. Sautee the veggies until soft. Do not brown. Add chicken stock. Bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, add the mussels and cover. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring half way until the mussels open up. Discard any mussels that didn't open. Serve, garnished with parsley and lemon slices with a piece of crusty bread.
Cook in accordance with one of the recipes above, but when finished cooking, remove the mussels to a plate, add a knob of cold butter and a splash of lemon juice to the sauce and stir vigorously to emulsify it into a thick and rich sauce. Pour over mussels. Serve, garnished with parsley and lemon slices with a piece of crusty bread.
Make it Paleo: make alcohol-free version. Mussels are considered Paleo, however, they are not low carb. Do not serve with bread (unless it’s Paleo-approved.) Butter is considered Paleo by some but not by others, so omit, if you don’t consume butter as a part of Paleo diet.
Make it Dairy-Free: use oil and not butter.
Happens to be Gluten-Free: as with all gluten-free recipes, ensure all your ingredients are gluten free and not cross-contaminated. Pay attention to the ingredient list on your chicken stock. Wine is mostly gluten-free with a few exceptions; if you are not able to definitively determine if your wine is gluten free, simply prepare alcohol-free version. Do not serve these with bread or serve with gluten-free bread.
