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.

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Making jam in the microwave is a convenient way to make jam quickly and in small batches. This recipe makes about 2 cups, enough for a couple small jars, which is at least as much as I usually want for my own use. Though it’s possible to can the jam and then boil the jars so it can be kept for longer periods of time, since it doesn’t make that much, I usually just put it in a clean jar and then keep it in the fridge. This microwave jam recipe is adapted from Elise of Simply Recipes. It’s fairly sweet, but Elise says that reducing the sugar will likely cause the jam not to set as well (it doesn’t use any added pectin).

In this version I used blood oranges and persimmons. I’ve also made it according to the original recipe, which uses oranges and figs, and that’s delicious as well, or you can substitute whatever fruit is seasonal or on hand. (Though I think it’s better to keep in the citrus, as I think the pectin it contains may help the jam firm up.) It’s good with cheese and crackers; I like to use a strongly flavored cheese, such as gorgonzola, to stand up to the strong flavor of the jam. It’s also good with goat cheese.

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