Steamed Mussels in White Wine with Crusty Bread
I got one of those Groupons from Dirk’s Fish Market on Clybourn Avenue. It cost me 10.00 and got me 20.00. Pretty good deal huh? For New Year’s Eve, Margie and I like to have some sort of shellfish. They had some great looking shrimp so I got a pound but I still had 5.00 left. I spied mussels being poured just as I was wondering what to do with the rest of my money. I had not made mussels in over 15 years. It is easy but they just don’t leap to mind when I’m thinking what to eat. I got the shrimp, mussels and some lemons and I was on my way. This was on Friday when it wascold and rainy. The shrimp was for the following night. But tonight, Margie would be out working at night. I would have the mussels by myself.
I used to work for a family as a private chef and the lady of the house loved mussels. I had not cooked them before I met her. She preferred them in a seafood stew that also included shrimp and whitefish. It was delicious but quite expensive. Money was no object for this family but it is for me. I decided to make a dinner of the pound of mussels. The most common way to prepare them in to steam them in white wine, their own liquid, some garlic and onions. In a restaurant, you will find them prepared the same way but served with pomme frittes. I was not going to fry any potatoes but I could make some crusty bread. It was only 3:30pm when I made the dough. I had the small foccacie going in the oven at the same time the mussels went in the white wine. They both finished at about the same time. They tasted great together. Dipping the bread in the broth that the mussels made brought me back to working as a private chef. It was very flavorful and garlicky.
The next time you make a stew, soup or broth think about making some crusty bread to accompany it. You will not be disappointed.
