The ocean was not kind to us this week. There were 18-20 foot swells in Bodega Bay and Ft. Bragg for most of the week and the poor little boats could not get out. There was supposed to be a craaaaazy rain storm tonight, but thankfully we are still dry in the North Bay. If it had rained, the oyster and mussel farms would be shut down and then we would have NO FISH PART TWO! That would be a nightmare. Yuck.

Photo: James Collier

We are so very lucky to have delicious mussels from Cove Mussel Company. I have been able to spend some time with owner Scott Zahl and his girlfriend Patti. They are such lovely people. I am posting my recipe for Thai Red Curry Mussels below along with links to a profile on Cove Mussel Co., past recipes, and a past Mussel Week Wrap-up.

Thai Red Curry Mussels

I am curry-obsessed. I have had a different kind of curry every day for the last 8 days. It might be time for an intervention, but first I will make this recipe again.

2 lbs mussels, washed and bearded (These mussels are VERY easy to beard. A good video tutorial is found here. I disagree with her on one point. If a mussel is open, tap it lightly & give it a couple of minutes to close. If it stays open, then throw it out.)

2 shallots, chopped

3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp Thai red curry paste (Go with 2 Tbsp if you like things a little bit spicy. I always do.)

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

2 Tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp light brown sugar

Juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp corn or peanut oil

1 handful of torn Thai basil (Regular basil works in a pinch.)

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro leaves and stems

Steamed rice for serving

1. In a blender, combine the shallots, garlic, and curry paste with 1/8 cup water and blend until smooth.

2. In a bowl, combine the coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice, and brown sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

3. In a large pot with a lid over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the curry base and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is fragrant. This should take about 30 seconds.

4. Stir in the coconut milk mixture and bring to a boil. Allow the sauce to simmer, uncovered, for two minutes.

5. Add the cleaned mussels to the sauce and cover, cooking for five to eight minutes, or until the mussels have opened. If there are many mussels that have not opened, replace the lid and keep cooking until more mussels open.

5. Serve over rice and sprinkle with basil and cilantro.

Enjoy!

Mussel Links

Lots of wonderful recipes and additional information found below!

Know Your Source: Cove Mussel Co.

Caring for your Mussels. THEY’RE ALIVE!

Nova Scotia Steamed Mussels

Beer Steamed Mussels

Mussel Wrap-up

Chef Neil Davidson has worked at a shady hole-in-the-wall that you might have heard of.  Ad Hoc.  Not too shabby.  He is currently the co-founder and chef at Mission Gastroclub.

Now that his street cred has been established, I would like to mention some other awesome things about Neil.  He recognizes the genius of David Byrne. He plays the trombone.  He is dating my favorite dairy princess.  Oh, and he volunteered to write, test-drive and serve this amazing recipe for some friends last week.  Neil is good people AND he will cater your next party.  If you would like to hire Neil (You should.) email him at j.neil.davidson@gmail.com.

I’m telling you, MAKE THIS.  It was so delicious.  We finished every last mussel and the sopped up all the broth with a loaf of bread.

Photo by Kimberley Hasselbrink of The Year in Food http://theyearinfood.com/

Isn’t it just beautiful?  Now, gather your ingredients, invite some friends over, and show off.

Beer Steamed Mussels

Yield: One large bowl of cooked mussels

Procedure:

1. Start by making the oven-roasted tomatoes.  Set the oven to 400.  First, peel the tomatoes.  The best way to do this is to quickly blanch them in boiling water.  Bring a large pot of water (at least 2 quarts) with 2 tbsp salt up to a boil.  Mark an ‘x’ with a knife in the bottom of each tomato (this will help the skin come off more easily).  Drop the tomatoes in the boiling water for 20-30 seconds, until the skin starts to wrinkle.  Take them out of the boiling water and immediately drop them in an ice bath.
2. When the tomatoes are cool, peel the skins off, cut the tomatoes in half the long way, place them in a baking pan and drizzle olive oil over each tomato along with the fleur de sel and thyme.  Roast them covered for 30 minutes, and uncovered for another 15.
3. While the tomatoes are roasting, take the lemons, and using a vegetable peeler, peel off the outer rind.  Try not to peel off too much pith (the white part) because that is bitter.
4. Next, put the ½ cup sugar in a pan and add the ½ cup water.  Put this on high heat on the stove.  When it starts boiling, stir to dissolve all the sugar, and then add the lemon rind.  Simmer at medium heat for 5 minutes.  Remove the lemon rind from the water to cool.  (The simple syrup that remains will have lovely lemon flavor to it, save this!)  When the rind is cool, cut into long, thin strips.
5. Now, clean the mussels.  Spray them down with cold water, making sure to get any dirt off of them.  Next, de-beard the mussels.  Each mussel should have some strings coming out of one side, grab on to those and pull.  With a little bit of pressure, they should come off cleanly.  Rinse the mussels with clean water again.
6. Cut the bacon into lardons.  Do this by cutting the slab into long strips that are ½ inch thick.  Then take each strip and cut those into ½ thick ‘matchsticks’.  Now, dice the onion into medium (1/2” thick) dice.
7. Saute the bacon in a large pan (that can fit all the mussels) on medium heat until it starts to get brown.  Add the onion and cook until soft.  Add the beer and cayenne, and bring up to a boil.  Add the mussels and cover.  Leave the heat on medium high for about two minutes.  Take off the lid, and if the mussels have opened, they’re done.  If they haven’t, cover the pan and leave on the heat for another minute.
8. Pour the mussels, the broth with the bacon and onions into a large serving bowl, add the tomato, candied lemon rind and shave some cheese on top.

Serve with some fresh sourdough bread and a stronger, but dry and crisp beer, such as Upright 7 or Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale.

Photo by Kimberley Hasselbrink of The Year in Food http://theyearinfood.com/