Although Mussels can be intimidating to tackle the results are quite spectacular. These quick cooking delicacies are a perfectly light comfort food for any time of year...yet this brothy recipe is especially delicious on a cold day.... best served with rice and/or bread.....lots and lots of bread 🙂
Serves 4-6 (Difficulty Meter: Medium)
Prep time about 30 mins or less ~ Cook Time 15 - 20 minutes
*Chef's Tip: If you are cooking rice you can start it as you clean and prep the rest of the meal.
Ingredients:
4lbs Mussels (cleaned and bearded)
2 medium sized fennel (sliced, tops reserved for later)
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil (more if needed)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 teaspoon (or more to taste) coarse pink Himalayan sea salt ( or whatever you have on hand works too.)
1 1/2 chicken broth
1 medium onion scliced
fresh ground pepper to taste
We gathered our ingredients and started cleaning the mussels.
*Chef's Tip:
If you aren't sure how to clean mussels....Rinse under cold water to clean off any sand or debris. Tap tops of mussels with back of knife to make sure they close. De-beard any mussels that have a weird seaweed like brillow pad attached to their side (generally you just scrape and pull it off with your knife). And there you have it...see not so bad 🙂
Discard any mussels that won't close or are already opened! Yup....they are definitely not good!
On medium-high heat, sauté onions in butter and olive oil. Add the sliced fennel bulbs. Cook until soft about 4-6 minutes. Incorporate crushed garlic and give the mix a stir.
Put all liquid ingredients into pot add salt, pepper, saffron and tops of the fennel. Stir thoroughly then add mussels.
Cook covered until mussels open...about 5 - 10 minutes.
*Chef's Tip: Feel free to give everything a toss with the spoon every few minutes to make sure everything is cooking evenly. If any mussels haven't opened by that 8-10 minute mark discard.
Stoneware Pot: NL-GB in Bengal, NY
Bon Appétit!
X ~ The Sibs
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