Steamed Mussels

I know I've been terrible at keeping up with updates (and I apologize, because things aren't going to get better as we head into March), but I'm writing now with a confession to make.
I'm a murderer. A mass murderer, to be exact.
I can't say I've ever had to kill anything I've eaten before. My parents bought and cooked a live crab once, and I thought it was the most horrible thing ever. Before the tragic end to its life, I watched sadly as the poor crab lethargically waved its legs and blew bubbles in the kitchen sink where my parents let him pass his final hours. Since then, I've resolutely avoided cooking anything small enough that it can be bought live.
Until now. I went over to JM and RW's place and steamed mussels for the first time ever.

For the prep

• Cost: $20, or approximately $7 a person.
• Ingredients: 4/5

JM and RW are from the East Coast (a foreign land to me, I admit), and I relied on their expertise regarding mussel purchasing. Mussels are actually readily available in most supermarkets no matter where you live, although their price will likely increase the further they have to be shipped. All mussels I've come across have been shipped in from PEI. Look for mussels in your grocery's seafood section or fish counter. Make sure they're stored either on ice or in water: YOU MUST BUY YOUR MUSSELS LIVE.
I was surprised at the price of mussels, in that I thought it would cost a lot more. I went to the farmer's market where they were being sold for $2.99/lb. Since we were cooking enough so that it would be a meal for three people (one of whom can apparently consume over 2 lbs of mussels on his own), we ended up picking up 4.5 lbs.
The rest of the ingredients were very standard, and can easily be found hanging around your fridge.


Cooking

• Easiness: 4/5

I'd never cooked mussels before and JM typically boils them, but this time we agreed to try steaming them. We had a brief discussion of which method would be more humane, but decided not to dwell on things too much. I did do a quick search on the methods for steaming mussels, and kind of combined a few recipes together to come up with this.
Obviously I had more mussels than what I'm listing this recipe for; we did ours in two batches and doubled the recipe.

You'll need:

• Mussels (2-3 lbs)
  
• 1 cup white wine (I used sauvignon blanc, as I often do)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (more if you like garlic)
• 1/4 medium onion, finely diced
• 3 tbsp butter/margarine, divided
• Pepper

A few things about the mussels. You might want to give them a quick rinse or scrub, especially if they've got a lot of barnacles or other unpleasant sea adornments on them. Don't store your mussels in fresh water, as it will kill them, and you do want them alive.
As you go through rinsing your unfortunate friends, check for any mussels with obviously cracked shells and discard them. Look for mussels that are not tightly closed. Pick these guys up, and see if they start to close after you touch them. JM harassed several of them with a butter knife, sticking the blunt end in and gently poking inside (GENTLY) to see if he could provoke the shell closing response. You can also set these individuals aside while you sort through the rest of your pile, and see if they close after a moment or two. Throw out any mussel that does not clam up; they're already dead.

Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they start to become translucent. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute or two.



Add the wine to the pot, and turn the heat up to high. As the pot heats up, add your mussels to the pot.

Make sure they're evenly distributed, and put a lid on the pot. Wait until the liquids inside are boiling, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for approximately 5 minutes, or the mussels all open up. Unfortunately (or fortunately), JM and RW's pot has a clear glass lid so I could watch the entire affair. I felt pretty horrible watching all the shells start to open up, I admit.

When the mussels are done (i.e., all the shells are open), take them out and set them aside (we just put them into a separate bowl and put them into the oven to keep warm).

Turn the heat back up to high and simmer the sauce to reduce it. You'll notice there's a lot more liquid than you originally started out with in the pot; this is because mussels release liquid as they cook. This liquid is pretty salty, so we didn't add any salt. At this point add the pepper, or any other seasonings you'd like. Add the extra 1 tbsp of butter to thicken the sauce. Other recipes I saw suggested adding heavy cream to the sauce, but we just let it be. After another 5-10 minutes, we decided the sauce was done.

We had the meal with some french bread to round out the massacre. I mean, dish.



The Result


I tried not to look too closely at the mussels while I was eating them, because I think they look kind of creepy. But, the sauce was flavorful and garlicky, and the mussels tender, if tender is the right word to use. Maybe "juicy" is more appropriate. We pulled the mussels out of the shells with our fingers (they come out with little resistance) and dipped them into the sauce before consuming it. Not using utensils made the entire experience extremely visceral.
Mussels are chewy, and they do taste like the sea. I really enjoyed the entire experience, and thought it was a worthy result in the end. Next time I cook mussels, I'll probably do it in a similar way, although I'd like to figure out how to serve them over pasta so I don't need to gorge myself on so many mussels to get a meal. I wouldn't recommend this for someone who dislikes seafood, but it's surprisingly easy to do at home (who woulda thought?), so give it a shot!

• The guilt factor: Pretty high. The sauce has got a considerable amount of butter in it, and mussels, despite being a good source of a whole load of vitamins, are not surprisingly high in cholesterol.
  
• Servings: If all you're having is mussels, 2 lbs or a little more should be enough to feed two people, along with some bread.
• Leftover rating: n/a. I'm pretty sure mussels are something you don't want to be eating a day or two later.
• Taste: 4/5, could have used some other herbs for flavors.

Overall rating: 90%

The good: Easier than I thought to cook; great flavors, even if there IS room for improvement.

The bad: High in cholesterol; guilt of watching all those mussels die in the pot.