Or was it Bruges?
I was studying abroad, and it was my first weekend alone in Europe. My roommates and I took a quick train from Luxembourg to Belgium, in search of french fries with mayo and waffles. We found them, and they were everything we dreamed, but what I didn’t realize I would dream about for years after, were the moules.
Sweet Martha H. Stewart, those mussels. Sweet, juicy, mild mussels. I know they look weird, I know they have beards. You just have to trust that these are worth the work.
Just close your eyes when you eat them, or something.
Mussels de Bruges
2 lbs Mussels
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 bottle white wine
1 medium onion, diced
1 large shallot, diced
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 crusty loaf of bread
Start by rinsing and de-bearding your mussels.
Say wha?!? Yes, those little hairs hanging out of the bottom of your mussel, pull those out unless you want to eat mussel beard.
Like this:
Get it? Got it? Good. Then, dice up your onion, shallot and garlic, and saute in the oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pot, or your dutch.
Salt and pepper your onion mixture, and once they have sweat out for 3 minutes or so, add the wine and herbs. Bring up to a boil.
Once you have a rolling boil, add the mussels, and put on the lid.
Let them cook for 3 minutes, and remove from the heat with the lid still on, let it sit for 2 more minutes to make sure all the mussels open. Serve, with the broth, and large crusty pieces of bread, immediately. Do not eat any mussels that haven’t opened on their own.
Freakin, Gorgeous.
Nice to know you don’t have to go all the way to Belgium for that, huh?
Love,
Whit
Oh Whit… I love you. I love mussels done like this. Simple. Elegant. Freakin’ tasty and delicious! Now I just need to get me some of those fries
Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you! ~Tommy Smothers
Love Mussels
I haven’t had mussels in years and now I’m craving them for a whole other reason! I love the photos of how to pull the beard out and remove it from the mussels, I’ll make sure to keep it mind next time I get the chance to cook up some of these bad boys!