Sunday, April 16, 2006
Steamed Mussels
I had raved so much about Temple Bar market, our visitor insisted that we must go there on Saturday. We had a good wander about, so he could look at every stall. But for some strange reason, he wasn't half as interested as he had been before we got there. I think he had expected more. For example, I proudly presented Jenny's stall and told him to take whatever he fancied because all of it is lovely. But the only reaction I got was a comment about the dirt on the carrots. He wasn't really interested in any of the vegetables and nearly pressed me to move on. So I grabbed a few bagfuls of fresh salad greens, leeks, spring onions, carrots and some purple sprouting broccoli and hurried on. I suppose I should have expected that. After all, he is from Munich where people tend to value variety and size rather than fresh seasonal, local produce. My mum is like that as well, happy to buy large Spanish strawberries in December rather than waiting for summer when the smaller local ones come out.Although, this week I best stay quiet about strawberries. Dennis had Portuguese ones on special - two baskets of organic strawberries for €1 - so I forgot all about my principles and got a couple. I also got a few avocados although this week I did not manage to get my hands on any nice looking prawns, so I'll have to see what I'll do with them. That was my shopping nearly done so it was time for my visitor to do his. Or so I thought. After having seen everything he decided that the market had nothing to offer to him, except a few snacks. So he had a freshly grilled burger (and bitched about it being served on a real burger bun rather than German-style crusty bread) and two oysters (which he claimed to like, but I'm not sure I buy that). I tried a vegetable kofta, which wasn't bad, and the rest of his half dozen oysters, which are always lovely at the market. In fact, I couldn't resist and took a dozen home. At €8 they are a steal. We also got some mussels from the fishmonger, which I cooked for dinner in a tomato sauce. I bought 3 kilos for the three of us, but the mussels were particularly heavy and covered in barnacles, so I needed that many. Normally, I guestimate about 600 to 750 grams per person. If you want to do this dish at home, I recommend you go by volume rather than weight using a good 3 to 4 handfuls of mussels per person.
3 kg mussels, scrubbed, de-barnacled andBefore I leave you for tonight, let's briefly return to this afternoon. After our brief excursion into Dublin's culinary underbelly, our guest was too exhausted to stay in town any longer. He plain out refused to do any more of my usual Saturday tour, such as Liston's or Meath Street. Luckily, I did manage to drag him into a wine merchant's that I had spotted the night before. What had originally caught my eye was the sign outside advertising wine for €5.99 per bottle, but it turned out that the price is the least impressive thing about the shop. The selection is incredible too and the owner's knowledge and friendliness were a delight. He claims to have the largest selection of South African wines in Ireland and I don't doubt that he's right. But this does not mean that he is ignoring other wine producing regions. The shop is packed with wines from all over the world. There is something for every taste and budget so if you like a tipple, give Vaughan Johnson's Wine Shop at 11 East Essex Street a try. The Kleindal Sauvignon Blanc we got to accompany the mussels was excellent.de-bearded
6 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 leek, sliced
2 small chillis (alternatively a pinch of chilli powder)
2 bay leaves
1 spring of fresh thyme (or ½ tsp dried)
1 spring of fresh rosemary (or ½ tsp dried)
1 can of tomatoes, including juice
½ litre white wine
Put the mussels in the sink or a large bucket, cover with plenty of cold water and leave to de-sand for at least 20 to 30 minutes. If you are using wild mussels, which tend to be sandier than the farmed kind, drain and repeat the procedure several times. Also make sure to remove any remaining barnacles to prevent them from being crushed in the pot and releasing sand into your dinner.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. The pan should be big enough that the mussels fill it no further than half way and should have a fairly large diameter. Fry the onion, garlic, leek, chillis, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary and fry until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes with their juice, crush and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.
Add the wine and bring to the boil. Finally, add the mussels, cover and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes or until the mussels open. Do not overcook! Discard any mussels that remain closed after cooking.
Christine at 11:45 pm
