Leftover Monday: Mussels Mariniere

Yesterday’s cioppino left me with a welcome bonus: leftover mussels. I decided to keep it very simple and make mussels mariniere.

First, a word about mussels: everyone should cook them more often. At the fish market yesterday, a two pound bag cost $4.50. At the grocery store I usually see them for less than $5 for the same two pound bag. The moral of the story here is that mussels are very affordable and dead simple to make. Since most people don’t make mussels at home, they assume they’re expensive, and restaurants use this knowledge to charge a lot for them.

Anyway, my mariniere started with a couple tablespoons of butter and two minced cloves of garlic in a stainless steel pan over low heat. When the butter melts, turn the heat up to medium and cook until the garlic is soft and fragrant, but not yet brown. I added a cup or so of leftover sauvignon blanc from Litteri’s (You’ll learn about Litteri’s after Lent), but any white wine would be suitable. Turn the heat to high and let the wine come to a boil.

When you reach a boil, throw in the scrubbed, debearded mussels. Cook them, shaking the pan every once in a while until the mussels start to open. Get rid of any that don’t once most are open, then transfer open mussels to a bowl with some of the broth, and serve with crusty bread.

This would have been better if I had used a higher quality wine, and if I had some fresh herbs to add at the very end when the mussels are in the bowl (I think parsley would have been very nice). Still, very good, and very, very easy.

Mussel monday might become a new thing.