Pattypan's Kitchen Fish and Shell Fish - Moules Mariniere -Cooking Mussels

 We managed to get up early this morning and so were able to go off and visit the fish man.  It was extremely foggy when we left out and particularly so over the fens just outside of Peterborough with the big wind turbines suddenly appearing out of the mist like ghosts.  As we travelled on, the mist started to clear a bit and was a lot clearer by the time we got to the fish man.

As usual he had quite a nice selection of fish and shell-fish. He even had Conga Eel steaks, which did not appeal to me whatsoever. We are avid fans of  most fish and shellfish though.  With my auto immune conditions from what I understand fish, shellfish and chicken or other poultry are quite easily processed in our systems than red meats.  I therefore try and have as much fish as I can.  We haven't had any fish for the past two weeks so it made a real change to be able to get some today.

We came away on the shellfish front with some Crayfish, Cockles, Crevettes, a Crab (for me), and 2kg of Mussels.  On the fish front there were some Lemon Sole on offer and so we bought two.  They will be served probably for Saturday night's tea simply fried.  Fortunately my new fridge is an absolute cracker and it really keeps the food lovely and cold.

Coming back the mist had more or less gone and the sun came out.  Wherein we were treated to a lovely Rainbow which cheered me up  We called in at the Farm shop but they were not open and unfortunately we did not have time to wait.

We called at the Bakery on the way home and by the time we got back it was nearly mid-day and so we had some of the shellfish.  OH had his Crevettes and I had my crayfish with a fresh crusty bun from the Bakers.

After dinner, I did some pottering and I needed to go to the veg shop to see if they had any Seville Oranges in.  Thus far they had not had them but I was in luck today and I came away with 4kg to start with.  I also apart from Marmalade have some Vin d'Orange and some Seville Curd to make as well.  I will probably load up with more Oranges on Saturday (if they have them). I will be making marmalade for the year and I have worked out that I need a minimum of 20 jars, with some extra to give for Christmas pressies.  We like our toast and marmalade here.

I only bought the Sevilles from the Veg shop today, but will go back on Saturday and see what they have then.

After bringing the Oranges home, I then walked on to Waitrose (unbeknown to OH).  I needed some fresh Parsley for tea this evening and OH also needed some sweeteners.  I came back with a few bits for things I want to make over the next few days as well including unsalted Butter.  I also treated myself to a couple of bunches of reduced Daffodils.  I needed to see something bright and they look lovely in this vase.  I do have another separate vase full of them.

I cooked the Mussels for tea.  They are a quick and simple meal which is absolutely delicious.  We are avid fans of fish and shellfish here and regularly have Mussels.  When I met OH I had never had Mussels before and actually did not like the look of them.  i have since tried them and I love them and have since gone on to learn how to cook them myself.  I cook them simply with water, some white wine, crushed garlic, finely chopped shallot, butter and then finished off with fresh finely chopped Parsley.  From bringing up to the boil they perhaps take about 3 to 4 minutes to cook and the shells open when you are there.  

When it comes to quantities, we only have the Mussels as a one course meal so we tend to go overboard with the quantities.

Ingredients:

2kg of Mussels (Usually a quantity for four people) but we have these between us).

1oz butter

About 1/2 pint of water (I tend to use a little more than is probably needed but that's just the way I do it).

Glass of wine or cider (about 1 wine glass full)

Fresh Parsley finely chopped

3 cloves (or more) of fresh garlic crushed

Method:

The Mussels out of the fridge ready to be prepared.

I washed the Mussels in clean water and then because there was a bit of weed on them, I have gone on to take off their beards and do some weeding.

I cooked then in the Ninja Foodie on the steam function, which has a Pre-Function where the water comes up to temperature and then it starts steaming the contents. (However, before doing this, I sauted the shallot and garlic in the butter gently to start with until just golden)

I also finely chopped up a couple of Shallots and crushed three cloves of garlic.  They were not fat cloves so I would suggest add to your own liking. Fry these ever so gently 

Adding the fried chopped Shallot, Garlic and Butter to the pan.  I used about 1 oz of Butter.  There is also a a little white wine in here.  You can add Cider or just use water as well.

Fresh Parsley which will need chopping down finely.

The Mussels starting to cook.  You can see some of the shells are open.

The Parsley finely chopped and put to one side until ready to use.

Once the shells all appear to be open, liberally sprinkle the fresh Parsley into the pan, give it a good stir and then switch off the machine.

The cooked Mussels.

We tend to be a bit uncouth when it comes to serving up.  We both enjoy Mussels and so what we tend to do is to serve the Mussels in a big pan or bowl, take out the Mussels as we want them.  We use the shell itself to remove the meat from the shell, especially the little muscle that is stuck to the inside of the shell and connects the main body to the shell.  We then have a bowl in which to deposit the used shells.  We always serve crusty bread or buns that have been buttered with this.

If you were serving at a dinner party then I would use large Soup bowls to serve the Mussels with perhaps an empty side bowl into which to put the shells.

I must say that it was terribly tasty and is an absolute favourite.

I have a lot to do tomorrow. I am hoping to start off my Seville Orange Marmalade tomorrow night

Catch you later.

Pattypan

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