Pulling Mussels from a Shell

***BONUS POST!!!!***

***This is a Repost.  I did this back in July of last year and was looking through my posts and decided it was time to revisit a few things.  That and I've had company two weeks in a row and haven't had time to write anything.  I also have so new readers so I thought I would take a minute to remind everyone to go back through the backlog of posts.  There's some good stuff in there.***

A great song from Squeeze.  Near to it as I can tell, it's about a guy on vacation just noticing whats going on around him.  Whether I'm right about its meaning or not, it's got a snappy beat and you can dance to it.

The Mrs. took the kids to Gulf Shores for the weekend leaving me to my own devices.  This happens from time to time and, for as much as I love my family, it is nice to eat the foods that no one else in the house eats, drink a little (or a lot) too much, and catch some naps.  In the case of the past weekend, only two of the three happened.  I could take this time to explain that I had a project with a local business that involved me cooking 5 gallons of Cream of Broccoli soup or that my hungover ass spent the first 5 hours of Saturday making pancakes and sausage for the local Farmers Market fundraiser.  Instead, I will regale you with another drunken tale of tastiness as it relates to Saturday night....and Mussels.

I enlisted the help of my niece, Jen, to come help me with the breakfast and as a bit of a reward we went to play a quick 9 of disc golf and went shopping for things she had never eaten...and drink copious amounts of Canadian Whiskey and Coke, otherwise know as The Chosen Drink of My People.  I also did a small piece of Asian BBQ Smoked Salmon that converted about 3 people (No, thank you  I don't eat salmon....HOLY CRAP!!! That's Good!!!) but I'll save that for another day.

The appetizer I picked was mussels and I freakin' love mussels.  I love them so much that the one thing I absolutely must not do is screw them up.  It's very much a case of taking something naturally wonderful and working around it instead of trying to make it conform to your likes.  So, relying on simplicity, this is what I did....

White Wine and Garlic Mussels

1-2 lbs. fresh mussels
2 cups Muscato or sweet white wine
1 stick Organic butter
1 medium shallot, finely shopped
4 cloves garlic, very finely minced
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions, ends only

Melt the butter and saute shallots for about 5 minutes over medium high heat then reduce heat to medium low, add garlic, and saute both until the edges are just starting to turn brown.  Turn up heat, add Muscato and vinegar and simmer until reduced by half.

Keep the mussels in the fridge until your ready for them.  When you take them out, give them a shake in a bag or a bowl to "wake them up".  Some of them will be open and shaking them will close them up.  Any that remain open after a sound thrashing have, most likely, gone to that Great Sandbar in the Sky and should be discarded.  Ending up with ones head in the Thunder Jug on Saturday is always an option but its better to have the cocktails do that than a bad bivalve.

Add the mussels to the sauce and toss a couple of time to coat then cover with a lid and let them steam for around 5 minutes.  When they are all open, they are ready.  Add green onions and toss one more time to get the sauce in the mussels.  It's just that simple.

After the mussels, it was all down hill from there.  A couple of lamb blade steaks with toddies, a left over cheap steak I had from the night before with cocktails, the salmon that made people stand up and notice (the people that "Don't eat salmon" ordered an entire fillet for the next day.  Must have had some redeeming qualities, I guess), and cocktails galore.  The good news is that Jen and I ate like Kings and I think it was a fitting reward for helping sling pancakes.  The bad news is, her ride showed up a few hours earlier than expected and she left.  I had to get up way early the next day anyway to undertake the Soup Project and was worn out from the day so I was, for all intents and purposes, toast.  All's well that ends well....right?

Feeling satisfied that I had done some serious culinary damage, half lit from 4 too many BV and Cokes, and absolutely worn out, I am forced to admit the worst:  Your Food Loving, Wise Cracking, Foul Mouthed, Alcohol Slinging Booze Warrior.....passed out early.  I promise, I'll try not to let it happen again.

Party Well, Eat Better
Rob