Steamed Mussels with wine and parsley leaf

I am a big fan of seafood. Mussels were something that I would always have at friends' house or in restaurants. However today on getting to my local fishmonger's I decided that it was about time I prepared my own. I guess I was into setting myself a challenge. Not that I thought it was a particularly difficult dish but I knew that you had be to careful about selecting the 'good' ones to prepare. I have a book by a once fishmonger who is now a chef, Mitchell Tonks, and sometimes I go to if for seafood recipes. I chose a very simple and terribly yummy recipe. If you are a lover of mussels as I am I do recommend the recipe. The juices have a lovely taste because of the wine, garlic and shallots. I even had some bread to soak up the juices left in the pan.

Allow 600g of mussels per person as a main course and 300 grams as a starter. The amount below is for a 6oog portion. Just half or double it according to your needs.

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot,finely chopped
a glug of olive oil
25g butter
1 wineglass of dry white wine
a handfull of fresh parsley leaves, chopped


Put the olive oil and butter into a large pan and add the garlic and shallot.Cook gently until softned. Do not allow them to brown. Add the wine, boil for a minute and then add the mussels. Replace the lid and cook, giving the pan a shake form time to time. The mussels are ready when they have opened - discard any that don't. Spoon the mussels into a serving bowl, then stir the parsley into the juices in the pan and pour over the mussels.

Yummy.