Curry Laced Moules à La Marinière With Fresh Peas Recipes

CURRY-LACED MOULES à LA MARINIèRE WITH FRESH PEAS

Steps:

• Clean the mussels. Inspect each one carefully and discard any that have opened (if some are partly open, tap them with your finger, and if they close back up they are O.K.) or have cracked shells. Place in a large bowl, fill the bowl with cold water and rinse several times, swishing the mussels around in the water, pouring out the water and refilling. Clean the shells, if necessary, with a brush or the end of one of the mussels, and pull out the beards - the hairy attachments emerging from the shells. Do not do this until just before cooking, or the mussels will die and spoil.
• Steam the peas or cook them in lightly salted boiling water until tender, 4 to 10 minutes, depending on the size and age of the peas. Drain and set aside.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or pot and add the onion or shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes, and add the curry powder. Stir together for a minute, until fragrant, and add the wine, garlic, bay leaf, sprigs of parsley and thyme, and the peppercorns. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium and boil for 2 minutes.
• Add the mussels and cover tightly. Cook 2 minutes, shake the pot vigorously and cook another 2 minutes. Uncover and use tongs to transfer all of the mussels that have opened to wide soup bowls. Cover the pot and cook for another minute, or until all of the mussels have opened. Transfer them to the bowls with the other mussels. Discard any mussels that have not opened. Cover the mussels to keep warm.
• Line a strainer with a few thicknesses of damp cheesecloth and place over a bowl. Strain the liquid from the pot into the bowl, return to the pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter and simmer until it melts. Stir in the peas. Taste and adjust seasoning. You may want to add more pepper or curry powder. Spoon the broth and peas over the mussels, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

SPICY SPANISH MUSSELS

Steps:

• Clean the mussels. Inspect each one carefully and discard any that have opened (if some are partly open, tap them with your finger and if they close back up they are O.K.) or have cracked shells. Place in a large bowl, fill the bowl with cold water and rinse several times, swishing the mussels around in the water, pouring out the water and refilling. Clean the shells, if necessary, with a brush or the end of one of the mussels, and pull out the beards - the hairy attachments emerging from the shells. Do not do this until just before cooking, or the mussels will die and spoil.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven, soup pot or lidded frying pan and add the hazelnuts and almonds. Cook, stirring, until the nuts are golden brown and smell toasty, and add half the garlic. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, taking care not to let it color and burn, about 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from the heat and transfer to a mortar and pestle or a mini food processor. Allow to cool, then mash or pulse until the mixture is just short of pasty; the nuts should retain some finely chopped texture. Work in 1 tablespoon of the parsley and set aside.
• Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until it is tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt, the remaining garlic and the chili and cook, stirring, for another minute, until the garlic is translucent. Add the tomatoes, a pinch of sugar and salt and pepper to taste, and turn the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture has cooked down and is very fragrant.
• Add the white wine and saffron and bring to a boil. Add the mussels, cover and steam 4 to 5 minutes, until they open. Stir the mussels halfway through to make sure they are evenly exposed to the heat. As they open, remove to a bowl with tongs. Discard any that have not opened. Keep warm.
• Stir the nut and garlic mixture and the remaining parsley into the tomato sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning. Distribute the mussels among 4 wide soup bowls and spoon the sauce over. Serve with bread for sopping up the sauce.
• To skin hazelnuts, toast in a 300-degree oven for 20 minutes, until they begin to smell toasty. Remove from the heat and wrap in a clean dish towel. Rub the nuts in the towel and the skins will slip off. Turn the oven up to 350 degrees and roast for another 5 to 10 minutes, until light brown and toasty.

OVEN-ROASTED MUSSELS WITH FRESH SPINACH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Clean the mussels. Inspect each one carefully and discard any that have opened (if some are partly open, tap them with your finger, and if they close back up they are O.K.) or have cracked shells. Place in a large bowl, fill the bowl with cold water and rinse several times, swishing the mussels around in the water, pouring out the water and refilling. Clean the shells, if necessary, with a brush or the end of one of the mussels, and pull out the beards -- the hairy attachments emerging from the shells. Do not do this until just before cooking, or the mussels will die and spoil.
• Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the mussels. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
• Arrange the mussels, pointed ends up, in a single layer in a cast iron skillet and/or a heavy baking dish. Spoon the marinade left in the bowl over the mussels and place in the preheated oven. Bake for about 10 minutes, until most of the mussels have opened.
• Meanwhile, steam the spinach in a large pot above 1 inch of boiling water until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, arrange on a large round platter, and season with a little bit of coarse sea salt and pepper.
• Arrange the mussels that have opened on top of the spinach and return the pan to the oven for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard any mussels that have not opened. Arrange all of the mussels on top of the spinach, pour the juices in the pan over the mussels and spinach, sprinkle on the parsley and serve over a bed of steamed spinach, with crusty bread.

MUSSEL RISOTTO

Steps:

• Clean the mussels. Inspect each one carefully and discard any that have opened (if some are partly open, tap them with your finger, and if they close back up they are O.K.) or have cracked shells. Place in a large bowl, fill the bowl with cold water and rinse several times, swishing the mussels around in the water, pouring out the water and refilling. Clean the shells, if necessary, with a brush or the end of one of the mussels, and pull out the beards - the hairy attachments emerging from the shells. Do not do this until just before cooking, or the mussels will die and spoil.
• Combine 1 cup of the wine and the 3 cups of water in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the sliced onion, the crushed garlic cloves, the thyme and parsley sprigs, and the peppercorns and bring to a boil. Add the mussels, cover the pan and cook until the mussels have opened, about 4 minutes. Stir the mussels halfway through. Using tongs, transfer the mussels to a bowl, holding them over the pot first so any liquid in the shells will drain into the pot. Discard any that have not opened. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the mussels from their shells.
• Line a strainer with a double thickness of dampened cheesecloth, place over a saucepan and strain the broth from the mussels. Add more water or stock to make 6 cups if using 1 1/2 cups arborio rice. (You will have enough if using 1 cup arborio.) Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Taste and season as desired.
• Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy nonstick skillet or a wide, heavy saucepan. Add the finely chopped onion and the celery and a generous pinch of salt, and cook gently until the onion is just tender, about 3 minutes. Do not brown.
• Stir in the arborio rice and the minced garlic and stir until the grains separate and begin to crackle. Add the remaining 1/2 cup wine and stir until it is no longer visible in the pan. Add the tomatoes and saffron and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have cooked down slightly and smell fragrant, about 5 minutes.
• Begin adding the simmering stock, a couple of ladlefuls (about 1/2 cup) at a time. The stock should just cover the rice, and should be bubbling, not too slowly but not too quickly. Cook, stirring often, until it is just about absorbed. Add another ladleful or two of the stock and continue to cook in this fashion, adding more and stirring when the rice is almost dry. You do not have to stir constantly, but stir often. When the rice is just tender all the way through but still chewy, stir in the mussels and any juice that has accumulated in the bowl, the cooked brown rice, if using, and the peas. Taste now and adjust seasoning. Stir in another ladleful of stock and remove from the heat. The mixture should be creamy (add more stock if it isn't). Serve right away in wide soup bowls or on plates, spreading the risotto in a thin layer rather than a mound.