Eating on a budget doesn't have to be boring. If your menu is flexible, you can add in some spectacular dishes that won't cost you an arm and a leg. On Saturday, we went to the organic market in Asheville to stock up on our meat and seafood for the next couple of weeks (we bring a cooler filled with ice so that our purchases stay fresh. While we were there, I saw that they had a 2 lb. bag of mussels on sale for $6.99, so after a quick calculation, I mentally scrapped the halibut that I was going to get and decided to add in steamed mussels instead.
Since I had already planned on making chicken piccata and shrimp with linguine this week (which share a number of ingredients including lemons, parsley and shallots), I decided to make the steamed mussels in a white wine broth so that I would make the most of the ingredients that I was already purchasing. I've eaten this dish all over the world (literally) and this recipe ranks up there with the best of them. It's light, flavorful and frankly, I think it deserves a moment of culinary silence.
Now, a lot of people are afraid to cook mussels at home. Don't be afraid! Just follow a couple of simple rules.
(1) Have them packed on ice at the store and keep them on ice when you get home. Ideally, you want to cook the mussels either the day you get them or the following day.
(2) Right before you begin cooking, rinse the mussels under very cold water. If they're closed tightly, they're still alive. That's a good thing. If you come across one that is gaping slightly, just tap it gently under the cold water and it should close right up. Discard any mussels that remain open. In the two pounds that I brought home, I think I only had to throw three away.
For two pounds of mussels, here are the other ingredients that we're going to need:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup half and half (you could use heavy cream, but I never have it on hand)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 a bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
- salt
Go ahead and add your olive oil into a large, deep skillet.
When the oil is hot, add in the shallots and garlic.
Now, if I had any patience to speak of, I would have melted in the butter next, then I would have added in the wine. After a minute, I would have added in the half and half and finally, I would have stirred in the parsley. But, I was salivating and starving, so I just dumped it all in there at once.
Once the butter had melted, I added in the mussels and liberally seasoned it with salt. Give it a good stir and throw a lid on it.
Keeping the mussels covered, they'll cook in about 10 minutes. As they cook, they open up. Any mussels that are still tightly shut after you're done cooking them need to be discarded. I only had two of those.
Give it another good stir and plate it up in a large bowl. Make sure that you get ample broth so that you can dip the mussels as you remove them from the shells.
I usually serve them with either a large plate of french fries (the traditional serving method in Belgium and France) or with a large, crusty baguette. These mussels are so delicious and nutritious. They're low in fat and packed with protein and iron. Of course, you aren't thinking about that while you're dipping them in the buttery goodness of the broth. Lord help me, I could eat these every day.
Another tip I wanted to give you is that contrary to popular belief, you can indeed reheat leftover shellfish and they'll still taste just as wonderful the next day. When I have leftovers, I store them in a medium size saucepan.
The following day, I simply put the entire saucepan (with the lid on) on the burner and turn the heat to medium-low. The key is not to recook the mussels, but simply to bring them back up to temperature. That usually takes about 5-10 minutes and they're ready to go.
Considering that the entire meal cost me less than $10 to make (and I had an entire meal of leftovers no less), I consider that definitely eating well on a budget.
No comments:
Post a Comment