Cooking Mussels
In my house, cooking mussels have proven to be a crowd pleaser every time I’ve served them. They not only make a delicious and impressive entree, but are equally popular as an appetizer. If you’re looking for a menu item that is easy to prepare, popular with most everybody, and is not “too” formal, then mussels would be a good choice.
My preference is to prepare sauteed mussels,and serve them with a green olive sauce.
This is how I do it:
Cooking mussels Step #1: I like to start with a pound of mussels, and the ingredients for a delicious green olive sauce. Later I’ll need the following: 1/4 cup white wine, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon butter.
Cooking mussels Step #2: Rinse the mussels and discard any that do not close when tapped.
Cooking mussels Step #3: To make the green olive sauce, place olives, capers, parsley, cilantro, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, sherry vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a food processor. Add salt and pepper as desired. Blend to taste.
Cooking mussels Step #4: Preheat a pan over medium heat. Chop your preferred amount of garlic. Place garlic along with butter into your preheated pan and stir. Cook the garlic in the pan until it becomes a tan color.
Cooking mussels Step #5: As an option, you can consider adding chile, shallots, and/or lemon at this time.
Cooking mussels Step #6: Now it’s time to add the mussels, while being careful not to add too many at one time. You want the mussels to open, which may be a problem for the ones at the bottom of the pile. You should only cook enough mussels to make one layer in the pan.
Cooking mussels Step #7: Stir the mussels in the garlic butter while being careful not to be too rough. Keep in mind that the shells are somewhat fragile and may crack and chip if you’re not careful.
Cooking mussels Step #8: Now add the wine. Adding the wine will create the necessary steam required to open the shells while at the same time decreasing the overall heat within the pan.
Cooking mussels Step #9: Cover the mussels with a lid and let stand for 4 minutes.
Cooking mussels Step #10: Remove the lid. If all goes well, most if not all of the mussels will be open. Mussels, unlike clams, will open before they are cooked all of the way through.
The mussels are now ready for the final touch. Add the green olive sauce and stir together.
Bon Appetit!
In this day and age, most of us are searching for ways to simplify our lives, including making mealtimes easier to deal with and enjoyable for all in the family. It’s gotten to the point where many people have turned to frozen foodstuffs in order to save time and energy! I don’t know about you, but for me the mere thought of keeping a stock of frozen items, checking to see which ones are still fit to be used, all while planning 3 square meals is disturbing! As an alternative, I think crock pot cooking is a fabulous idea.... Click here to read the rest of the article: The Joys of Cooking!
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