Ingredients
-
2 kilograms s black or Eden Mussels
-
Butterroom teperature
-
home made Cajun spice mix
-
1/2 bunch coriander
-
1/2 bunch continental parsley
Directions
Fresh sweet mussels dressed with a spicy rich butter dressing. This recipe is a great little dish for the summer patio gathering or barbecue that will ensure you can spend more time with your friends and less time in the kitchen.
To steam the mussels:
- For tips on cleaning mussels see “Cleaning Mussels” in Tips & Techniques.
- Once they are all de-bearded, place a half cup or so of white wine in a large pot, cover with a lid and place on high flame. Once the wine starts to boil add all the cleaned mussels and replace the lid. After a minute or so, stir the mussels or shake the pot as the mussels at the bottom will open first.
- Remove the lid and with a pair of tongs start to pick out any mussels that are open and set aside.
- At this point you will need to move quickly as the mussels will all start to open at once and you do not want to overcook them. If they all look as though they are open just dump the whole lot into a strainer, (don’t serve the unopened mussels).
Once the mussels are steamed:
- Preheat oven grill (broiler) to 180 degrees (350 fahrenheit)
- Once all the mussels are steamed, break all the shells completely open and separate the halves and remove the mussel meat.
- Sort through the shell halves and pick out the smooth ones without the mussel tendons in them and arrange on an oven tray discard the other halves.
- Pick the leaves off the coriander and chop.
- In a large mixing bowl mix 1.5 cups of softened butter with 6 tbsps of Cajun spice mix and coriander.
- Arrange the mussel meat into the shell halves and spoon approx ¨_ tsp butter mix onto each mussel.
- Place mussels under the grill for approx 3-6 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped parsley, arrange mussels on a serving platter along with a bowl for empty shells and tell your guests to pass it around and crack yourself a cold one.
