Mighty Meal

Despite enjoying them in restaurants for years, I’ve never made mussels at home. I’m not exactly sure why not—maybe they seemed tricky to cook correctly, or I erroneously believed them to be expensive. Neither of those things are true, however, as I learned last week when I embarked on making my first mighty mussel dinner.

Once again, the DeKalb Farmer’s Market provided all the necessary ingredients, and on the cheap—only $5 for over 2 pounds of mussels and $0.99 for a beautiful bundle of thyme! Throw in some nice, dry Riesling (for cooking and drinking) and you’re more than half way there. And really, with the exception of scrubbing the beards off the little devils, mussels are pretty low-maintenance. They cook up in less than 10 minutes, don’t require an internal temperature reading, and are fun to eat. Just make sure you bring lots of napkins to the table, along with some hot, crusty bread to sop up all that broth. Not to toot my own horn (ok, maybe just a little), but it’s good.

Oh, and as an optional accompaniment, I whipped together some roasted garlic mayo to dip the oven fries in (I cheated and used frozen parmesan and garlic potato wedges). Just be forewarned—there is a lot of garlic going on in this meal. It might not be the best first-date dinner, but it’s perfect for entertaining. Or for a Monday.

Mussels with White Wine
Serves 3-4

4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
½ yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves roasted garlic (reserved from recipe below)
2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 ½ c. dry white wine (I used a nice dry and acidic Riesling)
3, ¼”-thick slices of lemon
2 tbsp. fresh basil leaves cut in a chiffonade
1 bay leaf
2 ½ lb. P.E. Island mussels, debearded and scrubbed (any open mussels discarded)
10 grape tomatoes, cut in half and seeded
sea salt and black pepper

In a large, deep pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme and salt, and cook for 1 minute.

Add wine, lemon slices, basil and bay leaf and bring to boil. Add the mussels and cover. Cook until the mussel shells open, stirring once, about 6 minutes; discard any mussels that don’t open. With a slotted spoon, transfer mussels to large shallow bowl and cover with cling wrap. Add the tomatoes to the broth and boil until reduced to 1 cup, stirring occasionally. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Pour broth over mussels and serve immediately with crusty bread.

Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise

Serves 4 as a dip

1 head garlic, sliced in half

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

¾ c. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the garlic on a small sheet of aluminum foil, top it with the thyme leaves, drizzle with the oil, and season it with salt and pepper. Place another small piece of aluminum foil over it and seal the edges. Roast until the garlic is soft, about 45 minutes. When garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze four of the cloves into a small bowl and set aside. Squeeze the remaining cloves into the bowl of a food processor.

Add the mayonnaise and lemon juice to the food processor and pulse to combine them with the garlic, then puree until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary with more lemon juice, salt, or pepper. Serve with oven-roasted potato wedges.