Moules a la Provencale
After awhile, it just happens. You start craving the things here in addition to the stuff that’s already in your comfort food scrapbook from your real home.
Just like my favorites from Texas, it’s the simple things here that I love – and go back to time and time again. Duck confit. Steak frites with Roquefort sauce. Chouquettes in the afternoon with my coffee, still warm in the little 100-gram sack, twisted on the corners, like tiny mouse ears. A ham and cheese crepe, with an egg on top. Chevre. Pate and vin rouge. Moules frites.
Figured since they were just 6 euros for a kilo last week — enough for X and I to split — at the poissonnerie down the street, it was time to whip up a batch.
If you’ve never made mussels, they’re super-easy, and lightening fast –they just take 3 to 4 minutes, at the most, to cook. The key, as you’d expect, is getting your hands on the freshest mussels that you can find, so talk to your fishmonger in advance about the best time to pop in for a sack. Then, about 20 minutes before you want to cook them, just grab a dishtowel and clean the outsides and pull out the little beards. If they start to open, just tap them until they shut, or give the bowl a shake, and they’ll close right back up.
Unlike what many recipes and how-tos will tell you, my fish guy says that you should not put these guys in a bowl of water. Ever. In fact, he says keep the water away from them completely. Keep them in the fridge in the little plastic bag that you brought them home in, and clean them right before you put them in the pot.
This is a slight adaptation of the recipe that I found in Patricia Wells’ book, “Bistro Cooking.” Next time, I’m going to try making moules with a little cream sauce.
Cream, butter, cheese. Hmm, I have no idea why my new pants keep coming unsnapped, do you?
Moules a la Provencale
Makes 2 main course servings
2 pounds fresh mussels
½ bottle dry white wine, such as a Sauvignon
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 medium shallots, minced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1. With a clean, dry cloth, beard the mussels, and wipe any sand off of them and put them in a large, deep stockpot. Don’t put the mussels in water.
2. Add the wine, garlic, and shallots to the mussels, cover the pot, and turn the heat on medium. Cook for 2 minutes, then, with a large spoon, scoop the ones from the bottom to the top so they all cook evenly. Cook for 2 more minutes. The mussels should now all be open. With a slotted spoon, remove the mussels from the pot and put them in two large bowls for serving.
3. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth or a dampened paper towel, so any sand is left behind. Wipe out the pot with a damp cloth to get any remaining bits of sand.
4. Add the liquid back to the pot, along with the tomatoes. Turn the heat on medium and cook for 3 minutes or so. Pour over the mussels, sprinkle the parsley on top, and serve.
