Mussel soup and ??

Once your soup is done and before you add the mussels, you can poach a lot of different chunks of fish with ferm flesh, lobster etc. in the soup until the fish is done, then add the mussels.Serve with toasted bread and rouille(=mayo + cooked red bell pepper puree + harissa or cayenne pepper).

 

Farosa, here's my musselsoup. Want to share your recipe?

Let mussels soak in slightly salted water for a while. Remove all unwanted things from the shells, also the "beards". Mussels that don't close when you tap on them have to be removed.

Cook the mussels;

Finely chop some onion, a clove of garlic, parcely and a stalk of celery. NO carrot!!! Put the heat to high, then very quickly sweat veggies in a bit of butter, add all mussels, a small dash of white wine, generously pepper, pinch of salt. Do NOT add any other liquid. Cook for no longer than 5-8 minutes, or until shells just open (they are now at their best!). Drain and keep the cooking liquid. Remove mussels from the shells. Throw away shells that aren't open. Sieve the juice through a paper coffeefilter.

Making the soup;

Melt a little butter, add chopped shallot, stir in some flour for a while, add some tomato paste, stir and let cook for a few minutes. Add musseljuice and an equal amount of water (or unsalted fresh fishstock or even a light chickenstock). Add some diced tomatoes and a pinch of saffron. Let cook for 20 minutes. Mix with a handmixer or blend.

You are ready to serve, adding the mussels at this very last minute.

Or, first poach other chunks fish in this soup, then add mussels (and lobster, scallops...).

 

I just like to eat moule with a loaf of artisan-made, French bread to sop up the wine/shallot sauce.

 

I'm with Ishbel.  I like it with a fresh from the oven soda bread and salted butter to spread. Dipped into the soup it's a delicious accompianment.

Also, something to try is to have the soup mixed with a long pasta, like spaghetti or fettucine.  I ike this way the best.

 

You know, "moules et frites" (mussels and fries) are one of our wellknown national dishes. Of course, the fries have to be homemade from scratch, handcut and baked twice. Our mussels are made exactly the same way as I discribed in the previous post;

Finely chop some onion, a clove of garlic, parcely and a stalk of celery. NO carrot!!! Put the heat to high, then very quickly sweat veggies in a bit of butter, add all mussels, (a small dash of white wine is facultative, I prefer them without, naturel), generously pepper, pinch of salt. Do NOT add any other liquid. Cook for no longer than 5-8 minutes, or until shells just open (they are now at their best!).

　

- Gratin; Also, when you have some left-over cooked mussels, just take them out of the cooking liquid and put them on an oventray in just one shellhalf. Now make some garlicbutter; mix into a nice paste ; butter, shallot, crushed garlic, chopped parcely, S&P. Put some on your mussels and get them in a hot oven for a few minutes. Perfect appetizer to be eaten with slices baguette to dip in the garlicbutter! And don't tell your doctor.

- Another thing to do with cooked left-overs, perfectly fit to go with the aperitif; make a dough with flour and a simple pilsener beer, let's say Stella Artois, Leffe Blond is even better. Just mix a little beer at a time into the flour until it's somewhat like a thinnish pancakedough. Leave to set for 30 minutes in the fridge. Submerge the cooked mussels in the dough and deepfry in oil until golden brown.

- The soup is also a derrivative from cooked mussels.

Making a gratin;

 

Chris, I've often enjoyed moules & frites in Brussels and other Belgian towns and cities, too.  It's the mayonnaise with the chips that I find difficult to accept!

 

Unlike myself, a lot of people order fries with mayo ànd sauce from a beef stew at the friteries. Now, thàt's ugly!

 

No worse than some Scots ordering a fish supper or haggis supper (fish or haggis with chips) in a chipshop here (many owned by Chinese nowadays) and saying 'and a side order o curry sauce' or 'sweet and sour sauce'...  which they then proceed to pour over the battered fish and chips!  BLECH!

 

Although I wont eat it, I was surprised when I moved here to Florida customers ordering an order of fries topped with beef gravy.I do not know where it originated, because Florida has people from every state. I have only met 4 people who were born here..

 

Sounds like you must have a few Canadian visitors/residents because that is very similar to poutine.
 

 

Ed - have you tried it?  When I realy need a comfort snack, it hits the spot, as long as the gravy is good and the chips are crispy and well salted.  Mind you, it goes straight to your hips   I like either chicken or pork gravy best - my evil treat!

 

No never tried it. I Guess its good as I put gravy on mashed or even sometimes baked. I'll have to give it a try. But the calories scare me.  I have sat in restaurants here in the states though and watched people dump some fries into a half bottle of catsup. How do you taste the fry?

 

You don't actually taste the fry that much but it's there in the background, mainly its for the saltiness and crunch as long as you don't dip it to long.  You can always alternate to get the taste of the fry, i.e. one chip dipped, next one without.   And yeah, it's horribly calorific!  But  it's food for the mind, not the cardiovascular system.  I'd have it maybe twice a year.