Sea-side Meals - Magic Mussels

Love mussels? Who doesn't. but most people feel too daunted by the thought of cooking them - don't, the biggest challenge is finding a stock pot big enough to cook them in! I had a bit of a problem on that account at the cottage, but in the end it was two pots (pasta and pressure) that did the job.

For the base sauce:

1 bunch of celery, tops and stalks chopped.

1 Spanish onion, sliced into thin half rings

A thumb size piece of stem ginger, finely sliced

A few cloves of crushed and minced garlic

2 Tins of whole Italian tomatoes

A bottle of fine white wine (and extra for the chef!)

Saute the onion, garlic and celery in olive oil and a generous knob of butter till soft but not coloured.

We had the kids with some of their mates with us, so I held back the chili, but if all diners can handle add the chili to the onion mix now.

Add the ginger and then the wine, cook off the alcohol for a minute or two and then add the tomatoes, chopping them roughly in the pot with a knife.

This sets the scene for the mussels!

The mussels need to be cleaned of all beard and soaked and rinsed to clear all sand and grit.

Tip into the pot (...or pots in this case), mix through ensuring there is enough cooking liquid and if not add some boiling water. Fit a tight lid and leave the mussels to steam for 6 to 8 minutes or until they have opened.

Heap onto a shallow, wide serving dish and serve with fresh crusty bread to mop up the sauce with.

The amazing cooking liquor left in pot, fragrant with all the mussels natural juices were being to be whipped into another dish! What to do? Freeze for future use or....

.... cook a pack of spaghetti in the sauce,(add a little water if needed), and serve with some of the de-shelled mussels and bread crumbs crisped in the oven for crunch.

Whilst the adults were diving elbow deep into the juicy, plump mussels, it was the quite rapture and slurp-sigh of the kids tucking into the pasta, that was most gratifying....check it out!

Christmas '08 - Instalment 5 - Side Dishes

The side dishes:

Mixed garden salad with Mint, Cranberries and fennel.

Washed mixed salad leaves of your choice.

A generous handful of dry roasted hazel nuts.

1 fennel bulb sliced very thinly on the diagonal.

Small bunch of fresh mint.

Half cup of dried cranberries.

10 caper berries.

Dress the salad leaves, fennel, berries and mint in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Layer on a salad platter, scatter with the nuts and caper berries and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon.

New potatoes and beans in mustard dressing

500g each of new potatoes and runner beans
large white onion
1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
1 crushed and minced garlic clove
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Parboil the potatoes in salted water until soft. In a separate saucepan do the same with the beans that have been top and tailed, and cut into bite size pieces, along with the finely sliced onion. Mix the potatoes, onion and beans and let cool.
Heat the olive oil in a small pan, take off the heat and add the garlic to infuse the oil. When luke warm, add the mustard to the oil and beat with a whisk till it emulsifies into a creamy sauce. Mix into the potato and beans and serve at room temperature.

Roasted Roma tomatoes, with Ricotta, pesto and pine nuts.

1 kg Roma tomatoes

350gm Ricotta

1 Jar of organic basil Pesto

Half a cup of dry roasted pine nuts

1 garlic bulb, cleaned into cloves

1 Jar of organic marinated artichokes

Cap the tomatoes and de-seed, spoon in the ricotta and drizzle with pesto and top with the pine nuts. Place in a oiled oven dish, and scatter baby tomatoes, whole peeled garlic and marinaded artichokes in between. Roast in a medium, hot oven (180 deg C) for 20 minutes.