Mussels are fairly inexpensive and cook quickly. Both farmed and wild mussels are both good seafood choices now in regards to sustainability and mercury levels. They make a great outdoor summer meal with French bread to dip in the sauce. I serve them in bowls so you can easily have the sauce with a spoon.
To clean the mussels, run them under cold water to wash off any sand or grime and pull off any of the little stringy beards. Discard any that are open or broken. Out of four pounds of mussels, I only had one open, one broken, and about 6-8 with beards, so they do not take long to clean. Below are pictures of the onion and wine mixture cooking, and then the mussels right after going into the pan, before steaming.
Mussels are usually served in either a tomato based sauce or garlic cream sauce and I prefer the latter, but both are good to try. Mussels usually come in a 2-pound bag, which as a main course is enough for two people, three at the most. As an appetizer, cut the serving size in half. Here is the sauce with the herbs and then the complete dish.
Mussels in Herb Garlic Cream Sauce
4 lbs of organic mussels
1 T cooking oil
1/2 chopped Vidalia onion
1 large minced shallot
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 C white wine
1 C heavy cream
1/4 C fresh chopped parsley
2 T fresh chopped chives
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large pan or pot that has a lid. Cook the onion, shallot, and garlic for 8-10 minutes until softened and translucent. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Stir for a minute. Stir in the cream then add the mussels and put on the lid. Cook, covered for 5-6 minutes then stir. If you don’t have mussels opened yet, put the lid on for 2 more minutes. When you have open mussels, quickly move the open ones to a large bowl with a slotted spoon until they’re all done.
You may get one that won’t open; discard it. Turn off the heat and add the parsley and chives to the cream sauce and stir. Pour the sauce over the mussels in the bowl; stir and serve.
