1⁄3cup mixed fresh herbs (such as flat-leaf parsley,chervil,or basil,chopped)
DIRECTIONS
Rinse and scrub mussels under cold water.
Using your fingers or paring knife, remove beards (strings that hang from the mussel shells), and discard. Discard any broken mussels. If any mussels are open and resist being closed, discard them.
In a large stockpot set over medium heat, melt the butter. Once it’s hot, add shallots, garlic, and salt.
Add the wine and bring to a boil.
Add mussels and cover.
Steam until all mussels are open, about 5 minutes.
Stir in herbs.
Remove from heat.
Divide mussels and broth among four bowls.
Serve immediately.
My wife has been having stomach issues for months; so except for infrequent occasions, I have to cook for myself. Obviously, four pounds of mussels is too much. Heck, one pound of mussels is probably too much for one person. So the recipe will need to be reduced.
Is it reasonable to cut the amounts by 75%? i.e., 1 pound of mussels, 1½ tablespoons butter (Yeah, right. Me? Two tbsp is more likely.), 1 shallot, salt (I use my fingers, so ‘by sight’), and ½ cup of wine? I don’t see why ratios would change anything in such a simple recipe. [NB: I’ve never seen chevril in the supermarket. I’ll use parsley and tarragon.]
Do you do anything to “clean” the mussels beforehand?
It’s been a while now but my friend’s mom would make mussels or clams and she would put them in a pan of water with a little flour (I think it was flour) and leave them be for a couple hours.
The notion was they would eat the clean water and flour and poop out whatever they had before thus making for a more palatable mussel.
I honestly have no idea if this made any useful difference though.
My favorite dish when I lived in Brussels was moules provençal, which is similar to your dish. A side of frites with house mayo and I was in heaven. I made an approximate version of the dish when we were visiting relatives in Bellingham, using local fresh mussels.
Other than removing the beard, I’ve never found that to be necessary.
Only externally, as stated in the directions. I reckon the mussels from the market have already been ‘purged’.
Usually, I use mussels in seafood boils. If I have steamed mussels, it’s at a restaurant. The place down the beach has steamed mussels in tomato-fennel broth, with Calabrian chiles. Very good, though my wife found it too spicy.
As to the OP’s question about proportions, I think you’re spot on. Things like shallots and garlic don’t need to be exact any way. You know your own taste. I would definitely cut down on the wine or it won’t all cook out. Sounds delicious though.
I tried a recipe much like yours that had about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs sprinkled over the top of the mussels. They retained the juice from the opening mussels and kept them very moist and flavorful. I often steam a pot full of littlenecks, steamers (soft shell clams), and mussels together. I let the littlenecks go for about 5 minutes, add the steamers and mussels. Once the pot begins to steam again I turn off the heat and let them all finish slowly to keep them tender.
