My husband always made mussels but I wanted to give it a go. I looked online and in a couple of cookbooks to get ideas of what to put in the recipe. I decided to blend the traditional white wine broth and the heartier ones I found, plus, I wanted to use what I had on hand.
Beer, half n’ half, and fire roasted tomatoes seemed to make sense. I also used up all my garlic and parsley…thus the amounts shown in the recipe. These turned out great! I am saving the leftover sauce as a base for a salmon soup or stew. Yum.
P.S. My husband will not be making the mussels again!
Ingredients
- •71 grams (5 tablespoons) butter*
- •30 ml (2 tablespoons) olive oil
- •1 medium red onion, diced
- •16 medium garlic cloves, minced
- •12 ounce bottle of beer (Corona Extra or other)
- •400 grams (14.5 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, with their juices
- •120 ml (1/2 cup) half n' half
- •Salt
- •Cracked black pepper, to taste
- •1.8 kg (4 pounds) cleaned and de-bearded fresh mussels
- •120 ml (1/2 cup) chopped flat leaf parsley leaves
- •60 ml (1/4 cup) chopped cilantro leaves
*Salted butter. If using unsalted, adjust salt to taste.
Preparation
- Heat a large deep pan over medium-high heat, then add the butter with the olive oil; stir until melted.
Add onions and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. Pour in the beer and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, to let it reduce a bit for 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the half n’ half, reduce heat to low, and simmer 3 more minutes.
Add salt and cracked pepper to taste. Add mussels and stir once more. Cover the pan, and let the mussels steam over low heat for 5 minutes. All the shells should be open. If not give it a minute or two more.
Add parsley and cilantro, and stir to coat the mussels with the sauce. Serve in large bowls and ladle the sauce over each serving. Makes 4 nice size servings of 1 pound each, give or take.