Belgian Cooked Mussels

Serves 4 in 2 hours (included 1.5 hours soaking of mussels in salted
water)

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MUSSEL NEWS

As long as the name of the month has an "R" in it : means for us
Belgians that theRe aRe fResh mussels aRound!

This basic mussel-recipe is delicous when served with bread and the
cooking-water of the mussels. Of course you

can serve it with the authentic Belgian (french...) fries. Yes, we
insist : we invented the fries, but we didn't give an english name to
it...

Tips

* Whatever vegetables you add to the cooking water, make sure celery
is a part of it!

* Buying mussels
- Ask your mussel-seller how much mussels to by for how many
people. Rule of thumb : each person eats about 1 pound (500gr) mussels.

- Check if the mussels you buy are well closed. Try to open one,
if you cannot open it, means it should be good and fresh.

* Serving mussels
If after cooking you see mussels with sand in it, remove them,
otherwise your guests wil be kind of grinding their teeth...

INGREDIENTS

* 4 pound (2kg) mussels
* a lot of onions : at least 4 : sliced
* 1 green celery : sliced
* 1 leek : slice into rings
* 2 carrots : sliced
* a dash of vineager (at most 3 fluid oz, 100 ml)
* some butter to fry the onion
* pepper to taste
* salt to taste (1 teaspoon)

PREPARATION

1. Clean the mussels : the shells shoud be black and smooth, without
any "beards' nor
"crusty grey stuff".
2. Put the mussels in a bucket of salted water, stir them around and
leave them there for
1 and a half hour.
3. Take the mussels 1 by 1 out of the bucket. Press them between your
thumb and
fingers : any mussel that is open or opens has to be thrown away!
We only want the
mussels to be open after they are cooked. Drain the water in a
colander.
4. Take a big and high pot and melt the butter. Add onions and the
other vegetables and
fry until the onions are golden (about 5 minutes)
5. Add the mussels on top, add salt and pepper and vinegar. Put the
lid on the pot and
cook on a low fire.
6. Check the mussels : if the mussels are well opened, they are ready.
If the mussels are
still closed : shake them around in the pot and put back on the low
fire.
7. Serve the mussels with their cooking-liquid if you serve them with
bread. It's just
delicious to dip your bread in the cooking-water of the mussels!

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> wrote in message

> As long as the name of the month has an "R" in it : means for us
> Belgians that theRe aRe

You called me?!?

Below is a rustic English sea farers dish of long standing in some quality
or other, amongst me:

"Moulles a-la moi"

Get mussels. Be sure they are good and fresh ones. Soak in an amount of cold
salted water for some amount of time, hopefully they will spit out some
stuff you don't want them not to.

Check for mussels that are open and do not close when scared senseless by
your fast flicking finger - discard any that treated like this remain open
because a mussel that knows no fear is a dangerous mussel, wash the rest
well and shave any beards using your preferred 'shaving system' - some
prefer Gillette over Wilkinson Sword - YMMV.

To a big pot with some butter and chopped onion in it, add heat (no more, no
less - this is *critical* to the success of this dish), cook until onion is
almost translucent then add crushed garlic, celery diced, grated carrot(s),
sliced fennel bulb and green feathery parts, stir until they start to
soften, add mussels, shake them around and cover with some green wine (hey -
ask the Portuguese). Put the lid on the pot and cook until all the mussels
have opened (around some amount of mins, max). Take the pot off the stove
and strain the contents carefully through a fine sieve, pick out the mussels
and place somewhere to keep warm but not to cook any further because they
are now done to perfection, or you would not have removed the pot from the
stove, *would you huh?!?*. Put the finely strained liquid into a sauce pan
and reduce with a small amount of bay leaf, adding cream, and more butter if
desired, to a consistency you are utterly *delighted* with, good grinding
fresh black pepper, pinch or so of cayenne added, *just* before it is done
and at this time if it be to your tastes, add also a few or more well ripped
fresh basil leaves.

In a colander wash the vegetables that were cooked with the mussels under
hot running water if they appear to have any undesirable bits of oceanic
mineral and/or animal detritus on them or 'just in case' - as you will it,
then put the into the sauce pan and shake the pan around. Serve mussels in
sweet and rustic little BIG bowls covered in reduced sauce and veggies, with
well buttered, good and fresh crusty bread - !cello! - there you have it.

NOTE: - all weights/measures given are approximations only - adjust
precisely according to your tastes and those of any guests you may be
serving this wonderful stuff to also as well.




Shaun aRe


P.s. (Shaun aRe cannot vouch for the authenticity of this unique personal
recipe.)