Japanese-Style Baked Mussels

I confess that I am a mussel lover. You know, that lowly cheapest of all shellfish to be found in New England. I spent a whopping $$ $2.99/lb recently. All the mussels I purchase are raised on seashore farms in P.E.I.
There is a scallop dish I will never forget, where they were baked in scallop shells in a richly delicious mayonnaise sauce. This was my inspiration plus I am obsessed with Asian flavors as of late.

Buy 1 lb. mussels per piggy person. 
If watching waistline (this is laden in fat), use half.
Also a useful recipe for passed h'orderves.

For an entree, serve with favorite pasta, in my case, linguine. Use the extra sauce to blend into the pasta. Sprinkle fresh herbs/greens over the pasta or use to decorate the plate. It is very rich and benefits from this touch.  

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon gingerroot, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, minced
• 1/2 lemons, juice of
• 1 1/2 teaspoons wasabi, prepared (it comes in a tube!)
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 whole green onions, sliced fine
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (homemade is best)
• 3 tablespoons tobiko (flying fish roe, optional)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 lb mussels
• panko, Japanese bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to: Broil, top heat, 500°. (Broil function in toaster oven worked great.)
2. Prep ingredients: Steam mussels or cook in saute pan, just until they open up and you can access the meat. Save the steam water and freeze to use for fish chowder. Once cooled, pull meat from mussels and coarsely chop. Pick out the best mussel shell halves and place in a large metal dish or one that can handle the heat. Fill each shell neatly with a 1/2 -1 tsp of meat.
3. For dressing and cooking: Combine all ingredients. Place about a drizzle of dressing over the meat. Sprinkle with a little panko bread crumbs over the sauce. Broil until bubbly and lightly browned. Remove from baking pan and top with snipped green onions or chives.

Cider Doughnut Muffins

Cider Doughnut Muffins
Yields: 17 regular muffins
Find the perfect muffin liners :) I used classic white.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbs apple cider
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1 2/3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
idea: in centers of muffins, add a tsp of minced apple mixed in sugar & cinnamon
Topping –
3 tbsp butter
6 tbsp cinnamon-sugar mixture (looks good with turbinado or a coarse sugar)
I used a 1:3 cinnamon-sugar ratio

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (375 degrees F if using a dark, non-stick tin). Place baking cups in a 12-cup muffin tin and lightly grease the insides. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, thoroughly whisk together butter, oil, sugars and apple juice concentrate. Add eggs, beating to combine, until mixture is smooth. Stir in baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.
Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Stir to combine well.
Spoon or scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into one of the center muffins comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes.
Melt butter for topping. Dip the tops of each muffin into the butter, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely.

**Of course, taster-approved. Inhaled. Dinner-time replacement (with a hearty, healthy smoothy to complement). 3 friend recipients enjoyed, 1 in return gave apple cake. I rewrote the above recipe to improve it with additions of whole wheat flour and diced apples so it will definitely be revisited. 'Tis the season!