Needless to say, I finally came across a less labor intensive cooking technique. There are more mussels in my future!
If you can, buy farm-raised. They contain far less grit and sand. Who wants to chomp down on that? Rinse them well under cold water.
Instead of cooking the mussels directly in a concoction of wine and garlic, etc., cook your special dip separately. This ensures no grit is involved and you can easily sample the flavor of your dip.I tried sauteed garlic and minced red onion in butter.
Once softened, add white wine and cook down to concentrate the flavors for a bit.
The mussels go right into a preheated pot on medium high (with a cover). A dutch oven is handy for this. Set your timer for five minutes. If they are layered a bit, use a tool to toss them up after 3 minutes.
Piping open and ready to eat! Carefully remove to a bowl immediately, leaving the juices at the bottom. Pour such delicious juice into dipping bowl(s).
The final spread! Leftover mac n cheese, melted butter, onion/garlic/wine reduction, broth.I felt the butter was too rich (save it for lobster!) and the broth to be perfect for dipping. The garlic/onion mix was nice, here and there. I didn't think I'd make it through 2lbs, but I did!
Of course there was a little helper. This was his first taste!
He loves butter and buttery things (um, who doesn't?) so he wanted to just lap it up!
Making the connection mussels come from mussel shells!
The shells went into our compost heap in the garden. I LOVE adding shells to the garden. Perhaps it's the memory of great flavors, months later. Or how they transform into shards, over time.Final note: surely you will not cook or eat cracked or opened shells. Or shells that don't open after cooking. Or, foremost, anything that is otherwise stinky! Enjoy :D
