Last weekend we were down in Los Angeles: A great time as always, and although we had some fantastic ‘date-nights’ in the City of Angels, we didn’t get to make any meals ourselves. Now that I’m back in town we were raring to get cooking once again!
We left the sunshine of Southern California to fortunately be blessed with with Vancouver’s own version of sunny Spring weather. As usual, the hot weather elicits a departure from the ‘heavy’ comfort food that we Vancouverites seem to devour on those cold rainy days: For this particular date night we were in the mood for some mussels drenched in a white wine fennel broth. With chunks of crusty sourdough bread this is a simple yet sophisticated summertime meal.
Mussels are easy to prepare and relatively inexpensive to some of the other shellfish available. One pound of mussels from Whole Foods, ended-up costing us about $6. The most important part of cooking with mussels, is making sure that you are buying them fresh; this usually means that they were harvested within a week of being served on your plate! The shells are usually closed, but they may open slightly if they are undisturbed. If open, a slight tap on their shells should cause them to close shut: If they don’t close their shells, you can be sure that you have one dead mussel on your hands. Such a waste, but please do not try to eat expired mussels, you’ll pay for it later!
You can take a creative license when cooking mussels since they can be cooked in a variety of ways. The French have a slightly different take on how to prepare them; Moules Marinière, is an amazing classic French dish that you can find at virtually any Brasserie when mussels are in season. Belgium, a nation that is internationally known for its Moules and Frites almost always serve these delicious protein packs, with a big side of salty fries. Mouclade (Baked Mussels), Moules à la Provençale (Mussels Provence-Style) and Moules Au Curry (Mussels in Curry Sauce) and the list goes on! We added a bit of Spanish flare to our dish by adding in some chorizo and saffron. The combination of the chorizo spice in the white wine sauce was definitely to die for!
With this light spring dish we picked an Alsace Gewurztraminer, its off-dry flavour works well and exotic perfume were a great match for our feast.
Grab wine, a bag of mussels, and start cooking!
Mussels with Chorizo in White Wine (serves 2)
1 lbs Mussels
1 Fresh Chorizo Sausage
2 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 cup Fennel (thinly sliced)
1 Shallot
3 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
Pinch of Saffron
Salt and Pepper to Taste
2 cups White Wine
Sourdough Bread
While preparing the meal, place the mussels in a bowl with enough water that they are complete submerged. Rinse the Mussels under running water, pulling away any beard or remaining dirt from the surfaces. Drain away the dirty water and replace with fresh water. Set aside till ready to use.
Chorizo – Removing the casing from the chorizo sausage; cut one side open and squeeze the contents out. Add the chorizo to a frying pan, in an even layer and cook it over medium heat. Until it is browned, but not cooked. Set aside until it is time to add this in with the mussels.
Melt the butter and oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the fennel and shallots and cook until soft and tender, but not brown (10 minutes). Then added in the chorizo, garlic, saffron, salt and pepper and cook for another 2 minutes on high heat.
Add the wine and bring it up to temp but not boiling. Add the mussels and simmer, covered, until they open up, 6-7 minutes. (Discard any mussels that remain closed.)
Serve the mussels with the cooking liquid. Sprinkle with the fennel fronds and serve with the artichokes and bread.
OLIVECOCONUT 