PREP TIME: 30 mins COOK TIME: 15 mins
Tips On Cooking Mussels:
- Choose a large pot! It should be big enough to hold the mussels AND all of the liquid.
- Don’t skimp on cooking the shallots. This is where flavor develops! As long as you’re cooking over medium heat, they shouldn’t burn or get hard. Instead, they’ll soften and slightly caramelize.
Cook the wine separately and reduce it to half of what you started with. Once it’s been cooked down, add the cream. Most recipes call for a 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of wine.
- If you don't have a large enough pot. Steam the Mussels separately with some extra wine, and chicken broth, then in a large bowl pour the cream sauce mixture over top of the mussels mix and serve.
- I suggest using wide shallow bowls for serving! This leaves ample room for adding lemon wedges and crusty bread!
How to Clean Mussels:
Your first job is to clean the mussels! There are different methods of doing this, but I suggest filling a very large bowl with cold water, adding the mussels and about 1/4 cup of flour, giving them a good swoosh with your hands, and setting them aside to soak for 30 minutes.
Then you can drain the mussels and remove the “beard” from each one with your fingers. If they still look dirty, scrub the mussels with a small culinary brush under running water until clean. If any mussels are open, discard them before cooking. Only add the mussels that have a firmly shut shell.