Succulent Mussels with Green Salad

There's a specialty food store near me called Browne Trading Company. It is a wonderful place for foodies- they have a wide selection of wines, fancy cheeses, chocolates, giant pints of heavy cream, gourmet sauces, and fresh fish. I mean really fresh- when I need sushi grade, they're my go-to source. (You can buy some of the products online too!)

I was there last week to get the chocolate for the disaster candies and picked up some fresh salmon as well as a bag of freshly harvested mussels. They lived in the fridge uncovered for a couple of days and then we enjoyed them last Friday. WOW- these were amazing mussels; fresh, flavorful, and huge! Adam thought these were hands down the meatiest mussels he'd ever eaten.
I used a recipe that I made once before and it was just as delicious as the first time. The meal felt very French to me- mussels cooked in wine and garlic, a simple green salad with goat cheese, and a loaf of fresh bread for soaking up the yummy broth. If you like mussels, you'll love this recipe!


French Inspired Mussels
From AllRecipes.com

• 3/4 Lbs.+ Fresh Mussels
  
• 3 Giant Cloves of Garlic, minced
  
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
  
• 3 Stalks Green Onion, chopped
  
• 3 Roma/ Plum Tomatoes, chopped
  
• 1 C. White Wine
  
• 1 C. Plain Parsley, chopped
  
• 1 Loaf of French Bread, for dipping!

1. Soak the live mussels in cool water for 10-15 minutes to wash off grit. Pull off the beards and give the shells a rub down to make sure they are clean.
   
2. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the garlic until just tender.
   
3. Add in the onions and tomatoes and continue to saute until the tomatoes are soft and start to reduce some.
   
4. Pour in the white wine, stir, and heat to boiling. Let the mixture boil for 5-10 minutes until the liquid reduces by a third/ half. Add in the parsley.
   
5. Gently place the clean mussels into the pan. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. The mussels will be done when the shells open. If there are mussels that don't open, don't eat them- throw them out.
   
6. Serve in a bowl with broth and a few slices of bread for sopping.

Simple Green Salad

• Mixed Herbs and Greens
  
• Cucumber, sliced
  
• Herbed Soft Goat Cheese
  
• Dijon Mustard Dressing

1. Toss the greens and cucumber together, or arrange on plate together.
   
2. Crumble/ mush pieces of goat cheese on top.
   
3. Drizzle with a hint of Dijon dressing on top. Yum!

Crockpot Beef Bourig... um, something French

OK- I hate the French language! I admit it. Something about French really drives me up a wall. It really is a very pretty language to listen to- much better than Spanish, German, English. But it bugs me. What makes it worse is I can't pronounce anything French. Including the name of this recipe... Bourguignon.

As I've said time and time again, I generally don't make beef meals because I stink at cooking it. And my poor little husband is saddened because he really does like it, especially as a special treat now and again. So I decided to use the crockpot to see if I could make a tasty tender beef dish.

According to him, this was great. The meat was in fact very tender, it smelled wonderful, and the flavors all melded together nicely, but I didn't like it. I think I've come to the conclusion that I don't really like tomato-based flavors. I like pasta sauce, and I like raw tomatoes, but you can keep your tomato soup, your tomato chili and apparently your tomato infused beef bourguignon. Sorry hon, this one ain't comin' back. I will however use the same process to make you beef again soon.


French Beef Bourguignon
Slightly modified from Crock-Pot.com

• 1+ lbs Boneless Beef Chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces
  
• 2 C. Carrots, sliced
  
• 1 Small Onion, chopped
  
• 1 14.5 oz Can Diced Tomatoes, undrained
  
• 1 C. Mushrooms, sliced
  
• 1 C Cheap Red Wine
  
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
• 1 Tbsp. Fresh Thyme Leaves
  
• 1 Tbsp. Fresh Basil, chopped
  
• 2 tsp. Dry Mustard
  
• 1 tsp. Black Pepper
  
• 1/4 C. Red Wine
  
• 2 Tbsp. Flour

1. In a pan, brown the beef on all sides.
   
2. Pour cooked beef into slow cooker and add in all the remaining ingredients except the final 1/4 C. wine and flour. Give a stir to blend.
   
3. Cook over Low heat for 5-7 hours.
   
4. About 15 minutes before serving, blend together the remaining wine and flour to create a thick slurry. Gently stir in this mixture to the beef, raise the heat to High and allow the sauce to thicken up some. This will serve as a type of gravy.
   
5. Serve over egg noodles or rice.

Mom made, Cat approved. Yup, our cat Tyson coveted dinner while I photographed it on the only available surface in the house, the loveseat, thanks to my husband's architecture projects coating the dining room table and the rest of our tables being swamped in papers and junk. Ty Guy was good though- he gave it some big sniffs but stayed in his donut bed. Good boy.