Hello Folks!
This time around I wanted to try a fun seafood oriented dish. I thought about it for a little while and realized that I hadn’t eaten mussels in quite some time and wanted to see what could be concocted. This recipe stuck out: it is simple and wonderfully tasty. You get a great taste of the beer you use and the mussels will melt in your mouth. It takes only a few minutes and can be served in so many ways!
Stove Top Temperature: medium heat throughout
Servings: 4 Friends
Ingredients:
½ stick of unsalted butter
1 bottle of your favorite lager
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, diced up
1 small can of diced tomatoes, drained
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp chopped bay leaf
1 tsp chopped dill
1 tsp salt
1 ¼ tsp of black pepper
2 lbs whole mussels (don’t get the halved brands)
1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
1 tbsp whole milk
2 roma tomatoes, diced
Directions:
The first thing you want to do is give your mussels a good cleaning. Go ahead and use your hands to scrub off any dirt or loose materials on the shell. You don’t want that to end up in your final mix. Discard any broken mussels and allow them to drain for a few minutes.
Once you have your mussels ready to go, it’s time to make your beeranara. You need a large pot that can hold all of the mussels successfully. Use one that has a cover as you will need this later. Heat up the pot on the stove top and melt down the butter, being sure to spread it out around the pot the best you can, so nothing gets stuck!
Once your pot is heated up and the butter is melted, throw in all of your spices and vegetables. (The only items you should have remaining are the beer, the milk, the Dijon mustard, and your mussels.) Mix up all your vegetables and spices in the pot on medium heat and allow them to soften. Stir occasionally for 4 minutes. Once the veggies are softened up now it is time to add your beer!
Pour in a bottle of your favorite lager, about 2 cups, and bring the pot to a boil. Give the contents of the pot a stir so everything blends together nicely. Once the beer begins to boil, drop in all your mussels. When all the mussels are in the pot, give it a good stir to make sure all the mussels get the beer broth on them. Once you have stirred, cover the pot and allow the mussels to open.
The mussels should only take about 4 to 6 minutes to open up. After 4 minutes, uncover the pot and check to see your progress. Remove mussels that have opened up into another bowl while the others continue to cook. Any mussels that have not opened up completely after 6 minutes should be discarded. There will be at least 3 or 4 so don’t take any chances (these were dead before you started and could make you sick!) You will have plenty of open ones to eat.
Once all your mussels are removed, take your pot off the heat and add the Dijon mustard and the milk to your beer broth in the pot. Once inside the pot whisk it all together until it is completely blended into your mixture. This broth will be used when you are serving the mussels.
And that is it! It’s really easy and wonderfully tasty. The mussels can be served as an appetizer with toasted bread or over your favorite pasta. Simply add the broth to the mussels and you are ready to taste a wonderfully delicious start or close of a meal!
Good Spirits Folks!
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