Greedy Girl : Jamaican Style Mussels

Something Smells Fishy...

It’s the last recipe of seafood month, and I decided to try some mussels. I was first introduced to mussels back in high school by my best friend Petra who loveeeesssss them! She and her mom always made a lovely looking pasta with tomato sauce and mussels. This pot of mussels is no different. It’s steeped in a divinely garlicky coconut sauce with a hint of white wine and sweet pearl onions.

Notice I said that Petra made a lovely LOOKING mussel and pasta? That’s because back in those days all I did was look. No matter how good she told me it was I was not about that life. Back then I always loved to cook but I was in no way adventurous with my food choices. Now that I’m a grown up, I am tackling all my foodie fears one step at a time. And this time I have conquered mussels and it is really good. Who knew?

You might have guessed that I called this “ Jamaican style mussels” because of the coconut milk and scotch bonnet peppers included in the recipe. The coconut milk makes this sauce perfection, not to mention the wine, shallots and parsley, they make perfect marriage. Once your mussels are open you can choose how thick or how runny you want the sauce, I made mine reduce way down. I did not want it to be soupy. I will definitely be trying new recipes using mussels in the future.

Ingredients (printable recipe)

12 cleaned mussels

2 table spoon butter

¼ cup chopped shallots

5 shredded garlic cloves

½ scotch bonnet pepper minced

Pearl Onions (hand full)

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoon fresh parsley

½ cup coconut milk

1-2 splash white wine

Check the greedy tips for how to clean mussels

Instructions

Chop shallots, parsley, pepper, shred garlic and peel pearl onions
Melt butter in a hot sauce pan
Add the garlic, pepper, shallots, pearl onions, salt, and sugar sauté for a minute
Add the clean mussels to the mix and stir coating with the seasonings
Add the coconut milk and 1 tablespoon of the parsley turn on low and cover allowing all the mussels to open
Continue to sauté, add the wine, and black pepper, stir and reduce the sauce. Continue to sauté and reduce the sauce until all the mussels are open. Discard any mussels that do not open during the cooking process.
To serve you can toss this with spaghetti or with grilled bread.

Greedy tips:

Rinse the mussels thoroughly with water and use a brush or steel wool to remove any barnacles, seaweed or any debris that may be on the outer shell. (You want it to be as spotless as possible because the shell cooks in your sauce) Remove the hair (beard) from the bottom of the mussel by pulling firmly against it. Place the mussels in a dish of clean cold water to soak to allow excess sand, and salt to seep from the insides. After about 20 minutes remove them from the water wipe them dry and set aside for immediate use.
The general consensus is that if you cook a mussel and it does not open throw it out its not good. I have read several seafood specialist who deem that a myth and untrue, but I am not the one to test that theory out. Stay on the safe side, throw out the unopened ones.

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