Show us your Mussels!

This week I managed to get my hands on some beautiful fresh "blue" mussels and was all set to cook them as I always do -  in a basic Nepolitana sauce with a little chilli, and a side serve of crusty bread - when I was reminded of the delicious Belgian style mussels that you find in many a Belgian Beer Café. Cooked simply in wine or cider, and served with frites (chips) and mayonnaise, they are delicious - and a change from the way I tend to cook my mussels.

My husband Andrew (aka Mr Smith) spent part of his childhood living in Belgium and was keen for me to recreate and serve up this dish that he ate as kid. A little research and I discovered that the ingredients were very simple and I was more than willing to give it a go. I even did a batch of frites and served them with some garlic mayo on the side to make the dish even more authentic. The result was a fragrant, tasty dish that was so quick and easy to prepare. It would be an ideal fast after work meal, or great to serve guests as a no hassle entrée or main course.

As with any produce, ensure that your mussels are super fresh - they should smell like the sea and not "fishy". To prepare them, scrub off any seaweed or dirt from the outside with cold water and de-beard them if necessary (pull out any tendrils of seaweed sticking out of the mussels) I used cider for my recipe, but many versions use white wine. I just happened to have cider in the house, so that's what went in. I also saw some versions of this dish that added a little cream to the sauce, to create a richer taste - feel free to add this if you want to.

I remember eating mussels cooked in this style many times in France, where they are also served with frites (French Fries). Despite the fact that they are known by this name over much of the world, the origin of the thinly cut fried potatoes that we call French Fries is actually Flemish, originating from Belgium. The earliest written account of people eating potatoes cooked in this style comes from the Meuese Valley, Belgium in 1680. They were eaten by fishermen and their families along with whole fried fish. So I guess you could say that fish and chips originated in Belgium too! Regardless of where they come from, they taste good and are the perfect accompaniment for a bowl of mussels.

This dish would be an ideal one to try if you are a bit unsure about cooking seafood, because it is very easy to do. The only thing you need to be aware of is to avoid overcooking the mussels. Once the shells have popped open, they are done and you are good to go. Mussels are a good choice if you aim to eat seafood in a sustainable way, and have the added bonus of being cheap and great for you.

Belgian Style Mussels

with Frites and Mayonnaise

You will need:
1-2kg fresh, cleaned mussels, 1 cup cider (I used a pear based cider, but apple is good too),1 white or brown onion finely chopped, 2 cloves garlic finely chopped, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon salted butter, salt & pepper.

Note: 1kg of mussels will serve two people as a main course or four people as an entrée.

Method: Heat the olive oil to a medium heat and cook the onion and garlic until soft and translucent.

Add the cider, a few pinches of salt and half of the parsley. Simmer for 5 minutes or so.

Add the butter and stir until well combined. Add the mussels and stir them so that they are all covered in the sauce.

Put the lid on the pot and allow the mussels to steam for 5 - 8 minutes, stirring gently now and then. The mussels are cooked when the shells open.

As soon as the shells are open, remove the pot from the heat (avoid overcooking, or your mussels will be tough). Season with some salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Discard any mussels that do not open.

Serve in bowls with some of the sauce/pan juices spooned over the top. Sprinkle the rest of the parsley over the mussels and serve right away with crusty bread, or frites and mayonnaise.

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Catalan Fish Stew

A note about today's recipe: You will notice that today's entry is not accompanied by the usual photo of the finished dish. I did, in fact take a number of suitably arty shots that were destined for my Gourmet Goddess readers' eyes. However, due to a rather unfortunate incident involving me getting a bit thumb happy with the delete function during the upload process, Andrew and I are the only ones who will ever know how pretty the dish actually looked. And it was so pretty, I promise! Next time I will pay a bit more attention. So, apologies everyone - you will just have to enjoy a groovy poster advertisement for Spanish olive oil that I found instead. I will be more careful next time!

Now, to the dish itself. The inspiration for today's dish comes from Spain - or more specifically, Catalonia. Catalan food is extremely diverse and dishes in different parts of the region will depend entirely on what grows well there. Away from the coastal areas, the focus is more meat such as pork - both fresh and cured meat, wild mushrooms, local vegetables and olive oil. Along the Mediterranean coast, particularly around Barcelona, they celebrate the abundance of fresh seafood. Being a big seafood lover, I thought I would share my version of a delicious Catalan Fish Stew  or "suquet de peix".

The stew has a rich tomato base, enhanced with aromatics such as fennel seed, peppercorns, fresh garlic and thyme - and heaps of succulent seafood. The sauce has extra depth with the addition of saffron and a little almond meal that is stirred in towards the end of the cooking process. Ground almonds or hazelnuts are commonly used in Catalan recipes to thicken sauces and to add another flavour dimension.

This dish is very robust and rustic and would be great served communal style -  in a generous serving bowl, with plenty of fresh crusty bread to mop up the sauce. Feel free to use whatever seafood you prefer - I think clams and scallops would be a nice addition. Using a couple of different varieties of fish would also provide extra flavour and possibly some texture contrast.

Mmmmm.....

Pure Spanish Olive Oil

You will need: (For the Sauce) 1 large red onion diced finely, 4 cloves garlic chopped, 1 cup finely diced celery, 1 cup finely diced red capsicum, 1 fennel bulb (the white part) diced finely, 1/2 cup finely diced carrot, 1 tablespoon olive oil (I used a Spanish one - seemed appropriate), 3 cups tomato passata (or tomato puree), 4 anchovies, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 tablespoon sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon almond meal, 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, 3 cups fish stock (you could also use vegetable stock if you wanted to), pinch of cayenne pepper,salt and pepper to taste.

(For the seafood) 1 large fish fillet (it should be at least 2cm thick and about 30cm long), 10 black mussels, 10 large prawns in the shell, 1 large squid.

Method: In a mortar and pestle, crush the peppercorns and fennel seeds. Set aside. Put the saffron threads in a small cup of boiling water and allow to infuse while you continue the preparation.

In a deep pan, heat the olive oil and add the ground up fennel and peppercorn mixture. Add the onion, celery, capsicum, fennel,and carrot. Cook for about 10 minutes until the mixture begins to go soft.

Roughly chop the anchovies, and add to the mixture along with the garlic and the bay leaf. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the passata, paprika, brown sugar, sherry vinegar and cayenne pepper and combine well. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer.

Add the soaked saffron (including the water) and the fish stock. Allow to simmer gently for around 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and adjust if necessary. Stir through the almond meal.

Now prepare your seafood. Remove any bones from the fish with tweezers and cut into chunks. Clean and de-beard the mussels, clean and skin the squid and cut into rings.

Heat a heavy based frypan with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook the fish, prawns and squid in small batches and set aside. Make sure you do not overcook your seafood - each batch will only take a minute or two.

Add the prawns and the mussels to the simmering sauce. Put the lid on and cook for a couple of minutes until the mussels open. Disgard any that don't. Gently stir through the fish and squid. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Serve in pasta or soup bowls with crusty bread and a sprinkling of fresh continental parsley.

Serves 4 as a main meal or 6 as an entree.

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Lovely Linguini

Today's menu combines my love of fresh seafood and pasta in a delicious, fresh tasting and easy to put together dish. I have used lovely new seasons local mussels and fresh prawns and teamed them with vine ripened tomatoes, a hint of chilli, crisp flat leaf parsley and the tang of lime. Finished off with a little butter at the last minute, it is rich tasting without being too heavy. You could of course us any seafood you like - scallops, clams, fish and calamari would work really well too. Add other herbs if you want to - dill, lemon thyme or chives would be a nice addition.

I made this dish for dinner last night and it took about half an hour from start to finish, including the cleaning of the prawns and mussels, so it is an ideal midweek dinner. It is also good looking and special enough to serve up to guests. As always, make sure that the seafood you have selected is absolutely fresh - anything less than first rate seafood will result in a second rate dish. This dish is not suitable to make ahead or freeze.

A note about the mussels - I prefer to use the black, local mussels - although it seems that the large, green lipped variety from New Zealand are more popular. Our local mussels are smaller, but they are also beautifully sweet and I find the flesh more delicate tasting. I will choose the local product over imports every time. A few years ago when I was visiting the South Island of New Zealand I ate their green lipped mussels and they were stunning, but shipping them thousands of kilometers from New Zealand to eat them in Australia really loses something taste wise - as well as the environmental impact of transporting them.

I am actually off to New Zealand for work next week (North Island this time) and I'm hoping to sample some of the beautiful produce they have to offer while I'm there. If the quaility is anything like the last time I visited, I will be in for a treat. Stay tuned for a report on what I find there and some pretty pics.

In the meantime, enjoy this lovely simple seafood pasta. Bon Appetit!

Mussel and prawn linguini with chilli and lime

 

You will need: About 150g dry linguini or pasta per person, 5 mussels per person, 5 whole raw prawns per person, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/3 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon minced chilli, 1 clove minced or finely grated garlic, grated rind of 1 lime, juice of 1 lime, 1 cup chopped continental parsley, 2 large tomatoes with the seeds removed and diced finely, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon butter, pinch of cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, extra olive oil.

Method: First, clean and debeard the mussels, then remove the heads and shells of the prawns (I leave the tails on for flavour and presentation) Don't forget to devein the prawns - no one likes to have a delicious dish ruined by having the gritty digestive tract left in!

Combine the paprika, a splash of olive oil, chilli, salt, garlic, lime rind and half of the lime juice in a bowl. Add the prawns and allow to marinate while you prepare the rest of the dish.

In a seperate bowl, combine the tablespoon of olive oil, parsley, tomato, cayenne, the rest of the lime juice, parsley and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook your pasta until it is al dente - don't overcook it - it should by slightly firm to the touch. Drain the pasta and set it aside while you quickly finish the dish.

Put the empty pasta pan back on the heat and turn it up high. Add a splash of olive oil and when it is smoking add the prawns. Quickly cook the prawns (this should only take a minute) and then remove them from the pan. Turn down the heat a little. Add the mussels and put the lid on. Cook the mussels for a minute or so, until they steam open. Remove them from the pan and disgard any that do not open.

Return the cooked pasta to the pan and add the butter. Toss through until the butter is melted. Add the tomato mixtutre and all of the seafood. Mix gently until combined and season with salt and pepper.
Serve right away.

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Something delicious from the sea....

I had a bit of a seafood craving earlier in the week and wanted something hearty, easy to make and full of gorgeous delights from the sea. This dish fits the bill perfectly. It is very rustic and simple and only requires about as much time as it takes to cook some spaghetti. I threw in a few handfulls of fresh rocket at the end, which is delicious when it wilts and absorbs all the flavours of the seafood and the garlicky, lemony goodness. Yum! Use whatever seafood takes your fancy - I went for salmon, mussels, prawns and scallops this time. I have also made versions which included clams, calamari and balmain bug tails. Just visit your fishmonger and see what's good.

This pasta makes a great shared dinner party dish - just do a large bowl of it, add a big mixed leaf salad, some good crusty bread and a few bottles of red and your guests will love you forever. Bear in mind that it is not a dish you can make ahead - it needs to go straight from the stove to the table - but then, it is so fast and easy to do, you will only be away from your guests for a few minutes to throw it all together. Enjoy!

Seafood Pasta with lemon, capers and wilted rocket

You will need: 1 cup raw seafood per person (I used a mixture of prawns, scallops, salmon), 2-4 mussels per person, 1 large chopped red onion, -2 red chillis, finely chopped,1 tablespoon capers (I use the salted baby ones, soaked in water for a few minutes and drained. If you are using the big ones, chop them roughly for use), 1 or 2 cloves finely chopped garlic, a few handfuls of rocket  leaves, grated rind of a lemon, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, a splash of olive oil, a tablespoon salted butter, pepper to taste, 70-80g dry spaghetti or fetucchini per person.

Method: Put your water on to boil for your pasta, making sure you salt the water well.

Now, to the sauce. Heat a splash of olive oil in a pan and sautee the onion, chilli and garlic for about 5 mins. Add the seafood, except for the scallops and mussels. Cook for about 5 minutes. By now your pasta water will be boiling, so add your pasta to cook while you finish the sauce. Give it a stir so that it doesn't stick together.

Add the capers, mussels and scallops to the seafood mixture in the pan. Cover with a lid and allow to cook until the mussels open. Discard any that don't.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the seafood, along with the lemon rind, lemon juice, butter. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if you need to. Serve right away.

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Dinner with friends

Last night I hosted my first dinner at home for 2010 and I decided that I wanted something with big flavours that would be good for sharing around my living room table. Although I do have a small dining room (a converted second bedroom that I figured would get more use as a place to dine) I often serve dinner around my oversized coffee table. It makes for a much more chilled out atmosphere and we can all just lounge around without the formality of a dining room. The menu I put together for my guests was heavily influenced by spanish cuisine, starting with a whole selection of tapas style dishes that were served with warm crusty bread and plenty of wine. I followed this with a big bowl of fresh local mussels, a grilled vegetable salad and the chicken dish I cooked earlier in the week (I told you that it freezes well!) For dessert, I took advantage of the beautiful white peaches that are in season right now, and poached them in a vanilla and orange blossom water syrup. I served them with some double cream and topped them with some Pomona glace oranges.

I tried something new last night - I have seen various kinds of stuffed chillies served as part of a tapas selection and also in mexican and asian menus and I always like the idea of them. I made up my own recipe, which comprised of chorizo, breadcrumbs, garlic,and a touch of passata to moisten the mixture. I whizzed this all in the food processor and then split and de-seeded the chillies and filled them with the mixture. They were then put in a hot oven drizzled with olive oil for about half an hour. They were spectacularly good - smoky and melty and sexy. I swear I could eat a huge plate of them without stopping, they were so moreish. Perfect as a snack with beer but also great as a tapas/antipasto option. My only regret was not making a lot of them! I will be featuring these in many a menu in the future I think.

Here are some pretty pictures of what was on offer at Casa Gourmet Goddess last night.....

Warm mixed marinated olives, Green Sicilian olives, Chorizo stuffed chillies

From left: Grilled haloumi with lemon, Mixed chorizo (chicken and pork),

cheese stuffed peppers, red figs with proscuitto

Paprika crusted squid with aioli

Grilled vegetable salad with pomegranate balsamic dressing

Chicken with capers and olives

Steamed mussels with rich tomato and garlic butter sauce

Poached white peaches with orange blossom water and vanilla syrup

PS: Before I sign off, I have to thank Justin and Marek for treating us to a couple of bottles of my favourite fizz, Veuve Clicquot to kick off the evening in fine style. Thanks boys XX

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