melting your mouth

Matt and I had a delicious, though perhaps not all that balanced or healthy, meal of steamed mussels and artichokes the other night. We first started eating mussels while we were studying abroad in France, where they are often served with French fries as “Moules Frites.” There, mussels are eaten not with one of those silly little shellfish forks as I’ve seen them served here, but by using one of the shells as little tongs to pull the meat from the other shells. (Sorry for the blurriness in the picture, but I thought it was worth including for purposes of instruction.)

We’ve cooked them a couple times since then, and they are very easy to prepare. A recipe in this months Cooking Light inspired us to make them again. This time, we simply steamed them with chicken broth, lemon juice, and some spices, and served them with some butter for dipping.

We also steamed an artichoke, which was originally planned as an appetizer but ended up being finished about the same time as the mussels. We also had some dipping sauce for the artichoke — as I said, not very healthy, but certainly delicious! If you’ve never eaten whole artichokes before, as we hadn’t until moving to California, they may require some eating instructions too. Basically, you pull off the petals, dip them in the sauce, and scrape the little bit of pulp off with your teeth. I didn’t take pictures of that part, but Elise has a nice tutorial. Also, you want to stop eating the petals when you get to the purplish ones in the center. This part is called the “choke.” It should be scraped out, leaving the delicious “heart” of the artichoke underneath.

Steamed Mussels

When buying mussels, look for shells that are closed tightly. They should be rinsed and scrubbed before cooking. You may also have to remove their “beard,” the fibrous bit sticking out of the shell, either by pulling it sharply or by cutting it off.

~ 1/2 lb mussels per person
~ 2 c chicken broth
juice from one lemon
1 T Old Bay seasoning
1 clove garlic

~2 T butter, melted
fresh herbs, chopped

Wash and debeard the mussels. Mix together chicken broth and next three ingredients (through garlic) in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the mussels and cover. Steam for about 5 minutes, or until the shells open up. Combine herbs and butter, and serve on the side for dipping.

Steamed Artichokes

1 artichoke (or more; for an appetizer, 1 for every 2 or 3 people is about right, depending on the size of the artichoke)
juice from 1/2 lemon

2 T mayonnaise
2 T sour cream
1/2 T horseradish
1/2 T Cajun spice
dash of cayenne pepper
sprinkling of salt and pepper
juice from 1/2 lemon

First prepare the artichokes: wash, and trim off the prickly edges of the petals with a pair of kitchen scissors. Cut off the last inch or so of the tip with a knife.

Put a couple inches of water in a stock pot, or other pan deep enough to add the artichokes standing up. Add the lemon juice to the water and bring to a simmer. Add the artichokes, stem end up. Cover, and simmer about 45 minutes, or until you can easily stick a fork in the end of the artichokes. Drain and let cool slightly before serving.

For sauce, combine all the remaining ingredients. This is an approximation of what I did, since I usually just combine whatever strikes my fancy until I like the way it tastes.

Tags: appetizer, artichokes, dinner, easy, Fish, mussels

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 9:32 pm and is filed under Appetizers, Dip/Sauce, Fish, Main Dish, Recipes, Side Dish, Vegetable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.