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How to cook mussels?

post #1 of 25
9/26/07 at 1:01am
Thread Starter 
So, I was at Costco today. Amongst my huge bounty I now have a whopping 5 pounds of mussels on ice in the fridge. Problem is, I have no idea how to cook them.

Could someone out there help me out?
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post #2 of 25
9/26/07 at 1:05am
first of all, they are alive, so they don't last long. cook them today or tomorrow. First, pull of the beards. In other words, grab the things and if there is a hairy looking thing sticking out of the shell, yank it off. Then discard all of the ones that are not closed. Heat some butter in a large pot and saute some garlic and sliced shallots along with some thyme and parsley, next add a cup of white wine, bring to a boil and then add all of the mussels. Cover and let cook over high heat for about five minutes or until they are opened. Serve with the broth and either toasted baguette, or better French Fries. Both are classic accompaniments.
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post #3 of 25
9/26/07 at 1:11am
Thread Starter 
iammatt, thanks for tomorrow's dinner.

After its cooked, will it taste alright as leftovers the day after?
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post #4 of 25
9/26/07 at 1:16am
not really. you could reserve some of the broth, make a cream sauce out of it with a bit of saffron, mix in the leftover mussels and use that for the base of a souflee or do the same and use it as the base of some sort of soup. To me they don't really work the next day, but ymmv.
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post #5 of 25
9/26/07 at 8:54am
Here you'll find a great recipe for mussels, moules-frites or moules marinieres.
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post #6 of 25
9/26/07 at 12:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ms244 View Post
So, I was at Costco today. Amongst my huge bounty I now have a whopping 5 pounds of mussels on ice in the fridge. Problem is, I have no idea how to cook them.

Could someone out there help me out?

I bought mussels at Costco once: warning: Mine were full of sand. I would highly recommend rinsing several times.

Once cooked, you can use them cold in salads.
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post #7 of 25
9/26/07 at 1:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iammatt View Post
first of all, they are alive, so they don't last long. cook them today or tomorrow.

First, pull of the beards. In other words, grab the things and if there is a hairy looking thing sticking out of the shell, yank it off. Then discard all of the ones that are not closed.

Heat some butter in a large pot and saute some garlic and sliced shallots along with some thyme and parsley, next add a cup of white wine, bring to a boil and then add all of the mussels. Cover and let cook over high heat for about five minutes or until they are opened. Serve with the broth and either toasted baguette, or better French Fries. Both are classic accompaniments.

+ 1
Put them through a couple of cold saltwater soaks beforehand. You can use a scrub brush to help w/ the debearding/cleaning. Sometimes we'll toss a couple of nice roughly chopped Roma tomatoes in w/ the garlic before adding wine. Don't forget to throw out any that don't open after cooking. Crack open one of them fancy Begian brews everyone is always raving about....
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post #8 of 25
9/27/07 at 1:15am
Thread Starter 
An update:

I went to my friend's house and cooked all 5lbs worth. I sweated some celery, onion and garlic and a tomato in some olive oil. Then added about 3/4 of a $5 bottle of white wine and some water. Let that come to a boil.

In the mean time I cleaned out and sorted all the mussels. His daughter was a little freaked out by the whole, knock on the side of the bowl and see if they are alive and will close shut routine.

Once the pot came to a boil I threw them in for about 10 minutes. Pulled them out and filtered the broth and added a little cream and butter to it and let it reduce. In the future I would make a little roux to thicken the sauce.

Served with fries and some garliky bread and a cold Peligrino. 5lbs is a little too small for 3 people I think.

Thanks for your help everyone!
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post #9 of 25
9/27/07 at 3:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ms244 View Post
An update:

I went to my friend's house and cooked all 5lbs worth. I sweated some celery, onion and garlic and a tomato in some olive oil. Then added about 3/4 of a $5 bottle of white wine and some water. Let that come to a boil.

In the mean time I cleaned out and sorted all the mussels. His daughter was a little freaked out by the whole, knock on the side of the bowl and see if they are alive and will close shut routine.

Once the pot came to a boil I threw them in for about 10 minutes. Pulled them out and filtered the broth and added a little cream and butter to it and let it reduce. In the future I would make a little roux to thicken the sauce.

Served with fries and some garliky bread and a cold Peligrino. 5lbs is a little too small for 3 people I think.

Thanks for your help everyone!

Thanks for the update. Sounds like some seriously good eats there. I'm inspired to go out and find some mussels this weekend.
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post #10 of 25
9/28/07 at 6:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ms244 View Post
An update:

I went to my friend's house and cooked all 5lbs worth. I sweated some celery, onion and garlic and a tomato in some olive oil. Then added about 3/4 of a $5 bottle of white wine and some water. Let that come to a boil.

In the mean time I cleaned out and sorted all the mussels. His daughter was a little freaked out by the whole, knock on the side of the bowl and see if they are alive and will close shut routine.

Once the pot came to a boil I threw them in for about 10 minutes. Pulled them out and filtered the broth and added a little cream and butter to it and let it reduce. In the future I would make a little roux to thicken the sauce.

Served with fries and some garliky bread and a cold Peligrino. 5lbs is a little too small for 3 people I think.

Thanks for your help everyone!

Very tasty!!

I like to squeeze a lemon or two in when I make mine. And a bit of crushed red chili tossed into the mix gives it a bit of really nice and subtle warmth.

K
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post #11 of 25
10/1/07 at 3:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by romafan View Post
You can use a scrub brush to help w/ the debearding/cleaning.
I use pliers. I also have a habit of gathering muscles that are in sheltered waters and therefore covered in barnacles. Then I smash the barnacles off with a shovel or hatchet and rub anything left off with sand - they look as good as store-bought!
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post #12 of 25
5/8/11 at 8:57pm
I love mussels. Has anybody had them at La Sirène ? The guy is from Marseille so I can't help but feel a bit guilty, what with having been a Bruxellois for some time, but Cafe de Bruxelles did not quite up to expectation.
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post #13 of 25
5/8/11 at 9:05pm
I also need more exotic suggestions (matt)
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post #14 of 25
5/8/11 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by shahanshah View Post
I also need more exotic suggestions (matt)
You can really only cook them, as in the actual cooking part, one way, as far as I know. They are amazing with saffron, I think that is sort of a perfect combination. Cook them until they just open, then shell and remove the uglier parts, reduce the liquid, then add cream and saffron, cook until it tastes good, then strain and let the mussels sit in the warm sauce until they are heated through. Don't boil the mussels in the sauce, just heat them. This is great with wild mushrooms, just sauteed. Also billy bi soup is great. Kwilk should know a recipe for that. Edit: I thought of one other way I have had them cooked a bit differently. You just get a pan super, super hot without anything in it, then toss in the mussels in one layer and wait until they open. Eat them dipped in melted butter. Not exotic, but really tasty.
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post #15 of 25
5/8/11 at 9:52pm
hmm, well yes I did in fact mean recipe and not method of cooking. Saffron you say? I think there is a good source for the mushrooms around here, shouldn't be too difficult to locate. Thanks !
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