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Shellfish

Steamed Mussels: The Perfect New England Winter Comfort Food?

This dish is a re-creation of seafood from two parts of the US.  Belgian inspired and incorporating two places that have been huge influences in my life culinarily: New England and the SF Bay Area.  Really, it’s two restaurants and my love of dish re-creation that brought this dish to my table last night.  The Ramp in Cape Porpoise, ME – a hole in the wall spot at the end of the road near Kennebunkport.  The shellfish they serve usually they get ordered ‘provencal’, with tomato and garlic broth.  The toasted bread accompaniment with herb aioli id their idea – though an original recipe.

The other spot is the San Francisco restaurant Frjtz – a Beligan fries and mussels joint in the heart of the Mission.  The lemongrass broth and spice come from their menu, as does the sourdough bread – totally SF.  Being in the Boston area, the mussels are from New England (naturally) and were delicious.  Another A+ for our local fish market here: “New Deal” in Cambridge.

When I was growing up living in Maine the mussels would naturally grow in huge beds just outside the steps of the house.  Typically we couldn’t pick them because of the red tide algae, but when the red tide isn’t around, there’s nothing like picking the mussels out of their beds, cleaning the mud off of them and rinsing them to cook.

Oddly though, cooking these shellfish in the winter has brought a whole new spin on the mussel experience.  Because of the broth and warm bread to dip in it, the dish basically turns into soup, and a damn good one at that.  Totally comforting on a cold day and totally recommended.  I went the spicier Thai route, but you could also do a more French interpretation by adding garlic and tomato instead of lemongrass and coconut milk.  I don’t know, I just really have discovered that I adore Lemongrass.  Here’s how my take went down:

For the Lemongrass broth:

• 3-4 cups fish stock – if you have your own great, but who has their own fish stock? store bought works, and a typical container of store bought stock is ~4 cups.  Use it all, I did.
• 1/2 medium white onion – diced (you can dice the whole onion, you’ll use the rest later)
• 1 large stalk of lemongrass – halved lengthwise and roughly chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 Tbsp. lime zest (approx.)
• 1 tsp. lime juice
• 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• A few whole peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• Pinch of salt

To make the broth, simply add the stock in a heavy pot along with the rest of the ingredients.  Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat and then turn the heat down a bit (to medium) and let the broth reduce from around 3-4 cups to about 1.5 cups.  If you want to let it go a little longer be my guest, but you’ll have a more lemongrass forward broth and less ’soup’ in the final dish.  You want at least a cup of the stuff.

Once it’s reduced, remove the pot from the heat and strain through a fine wire mesh strainer catching the liquid in a separate bowl or container.

For the Mussels

• Around 2 pounds of mussels
• 1 cup of lemongrass broth (see above)
• ~1 cup coconut milk (i used the light coconut milk, which is fine too)
• 1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 medium shallots or 1/2 an onion – roughly diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic – diced
• 2-3 scallions – green parts only and diced
• Small chiffonade of basil
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil – if you don’t have any just use the olive oil

Rinse the mussels well in a colander. Heat the oil in a pan or pot (one with a good fitting lid) until very hot, almost smoking.  Take the onion, garlic, scallion and red pepper and add them, stirring – and cook for a few seconds literally!  Don’t want to let them burn.  Once you see them starting to color, add the mussels!  Stir the mussels around to coat with the rest of the ingredients.

After about a minute, add in the lemongrass broth and cover the pan with your lid.  Cook for around 2 minutes, then remove the lid.  The mussels should all be opened up and ready to go!  Simply add in the coconut milk and just heat through for a minute.

Top with the basic chiffonade and serve the mussels with a healthy portion of broth and some toasted baguette with basil aioli (recipe below) alongside.  Enjoy!

Basil Aioli

• 10-15 fresh basil leaves
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. lime or lemon juice (lime works better with the mussels)
• salt and pepper

Everything into the food processor and puree until smooth!

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