Mussels with Sun Dried Tomato & Basil Bread Crumbs

I've attempted steamed mussels once before and it was fine. Nothing earth-shattering, nothing so incredible that I've filed the recipe as "the recipe" and apparently not memorable in that I haven't tried again in the whole year.  I saw this recipe on a weekend Barefoot Contessa show and it seemed different yet simple.  It probably had nothing to do with the fact that I hadn't eaten anything that day and everything she made seemed delicious.


Fresh mussels are a must for this dish. Don't try this dish with the mussels in the frozen section as what makes a great mussel dish (in my personal opinion) is the sauce. Yes, the great sauce where you sop up all the juices with slices of bread or scoop extra juice in the mussel shell to loudly slurp. To get that seafood-y flavor and juices, you need fresh mussels and seem to find a good selection at Whole Foods.

 

Mussels with Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Bread Crumbs

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa

3 slices of toasted bread (a few more if you like to eat your mussels with bread)

3 cloves of garlic (whole)

1/4 cup olive oil

9 sun dried tomatoes

Juice from 2 lemons 

Zest from 1 lemon

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup fresh basil

1/2 cup white wine

2 lbs fresh mussels
2 tbsp butter
S&P

1. Toast the bread and cool.

2. Put the bread, garlic cloves, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil into a food processor. Quickly grind.

3. Add the basil, pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes along with a dash of salt and pepper. Pulse quickly.

4. Make sure your mussels are cleaned.

5. Put the olive oil and white wine into a large pot big enough to hold the mussels.  Bring to a boil.

6. Once boiling, add the mussels and then cover.  Keep covered for at least 5 minutes.  Take a look and your mussels should be all opened and smelling delicious.  Toss in two tablespoon of butter. Turn off the heat and toss any that have not opened.

7. Take the bread crumb mixture and add to the top of the mussels. Give it a good toss with the mussels.

8. Serve with some toasted slice bread to soak up the delicious sauce.

Mussels in White Wine (Half Fail)

So this is my first time making this dish and instead of following one recipe, I go and combine three... While not a complete fail - very much edible and enjoyable, just not that throw down, omg moment, this is the recipe, I want to drink the sauce and eat bread forever kind of meal - I should have just stuck with one recipe and then adapted from there.

Anyways, why did I make this dish? Father's day of course. I actually wanted to cook lobster for my old poppers but the store ran out. They did, however, have a good selection of mussels. Mussels are interesting. Whiledirections usually say as long as they are closed or if they are open and when you touch them and they close - they're alive. I dunno, it still made me a little nervous that a single shell would ruin the entire dish - so making this dish added a few spurts of anxiety and anticipation as I waited to the end to find out if all the mussels were perfectly fine.

I couldn't find one recipe that sounds so delicious that I wouldn't change anything. Some recipes sounded good but they had random ingredients that my frugal self wouldn't purchase - like saffron, for instance - or had a variety of herbs that I thought would make this a tad overwhelming. I also didn't have a recipe with me in the store - since this was a spur of the moment decision - so I basically just bought ingredients I thought it would go well with. Ha!

After making it, I realized I did several things wrong. I didn't buy enough mussels to begin with (I only bought 1 lb instead of the recommended 3 lbs) so there wasn't enough shellfish flavor to balance out the amount of white wine (1 cup). As a result, the wine flavor was a little too overwhelming. I also cooked this a tad longer than I should have, especially after pouring in the wine which can start having a tart/tangy flavor than that sweet flavor you get with this dish. I'll try this again in a few weeks with some changes so watch out for the next time I make this!

Mussels in white wine sauce
Random variation off three recipes and whatever veggies I had around the kitchen
Serves 3

3 pounds mussels (I used 1 lb....mistake #1)
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped shallots (5 to 7 shallots)
1 cup chopped leeks (1 large leek - only the white and light green parts)
Dry basil - just a dash for seasoning
Dash of Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (5 to 6 cloves)
4oz can of chopped tomatoes
1 cup good white wine (I used La Crema Chard)
S&P to taste


Clean the mussels, put them in a large bowl with water and flour. Soak for at least 30 minutes so they get rid of any sand/dirt. Drain the mussels, then remove the "beard" from each with your fingers and make sure they're clean.
In a large pot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes; then add the garlic and leeks and cook for 3 more minutes, or until the shallots are translucent.


Add tomatoes, herbs and S&P
Add wine and bring to a boil

Add the mussels, stir and then cover the pot. Cook for about eight minutes or until the mussels are open. Mistake: I cook waaaay too long by letting it boil for almost 15 minutes.

Serve with toasted bread to soak up all that sauce and enjoy!