Regular readers of my site will know that I enjoy fish and seafood alot and mussels are at the top of the list. Due to cultivation, mussels are available in most markets, they are affordable and they are easy to prepare.
If you’re looking for a quick and satisfying appetizer for guests…buy a couple of pounds of mussels, open a bottle of wine and serve a big pot of seafood goodness for your guests.
The only other pre-requisite to this dish is some good crusty bread.
Wine-Steamed Mussels
(Adapted from Vefa’s Kitchen)
1kg or approx. 2lbs. of mussels (scrubbed & debearded)
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup dry white wine
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream (or evaporated milk)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
- Scrub the mussels, de-beard and rinse under cold water. Discard any damaged mussels or ones that do not close when gently tapped. Reserve in the fridge (for up to one day). Thirty minutes before cooking, place the mussels in a bowl with cold water and a sprinkle of flour. The mussels will breath, spit out any remaining sand (which clings to the flour and sinks to the bottom of the bow). Rinse and reserve in a colander.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over low heat. Add your garlic slices and saute for a few minutes, just when they start to turn brown. Add your mussels, increase the heat to high and add your wine and oregano and cover with a lid.
- Cook the mussels for about 3-5 minutes or until the shells have opened up (discard any mussels that have not opened).
- Remove from the heat and add your cream and shake/swirl the pan to evenly distribute the cream into the sauce. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley and serve with crusty bread and a dry Greek wine or some Ouzo.
If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at https://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis
21 Responses
Those look so good! Right – I am off to order some mussels!
Pure indulgence…..a steaming pot full of mussels!!!Nice one Peter!!!
Pentanostimo Peter!!
Kalos orises stin Ellada, tha ta poume tin Tetarti!!
You always have the best photos! I see mussels in my future this week.
Ah, a classic
I have this thing with mussels… Ages ago when I still didn’t eat fish I ate some not so good mussels (they didn’t make me sick but were just disgusting) and I haven’t been able to get over that.
Maybe I should just try again as your dish looks gorgeous and delicious!
My absolute favorite way to have mussels!
Perfect! I am not a mussel girl girl so I would have to substitute some clams. mmmm tasty
You make these look soooo good. Thank you for sharing!
I haven’t had mussels in ages! These look so delicious! Must have some soon!
I make something very similar, except for the cream. It’s a nice touch to use the cream to make a sauce with more body.
I haven’t thought of adding evaporated milk to steamed mussels, but it looks really good.
I’ve just looked at your video and now I am craving pasta! Bravo my friend!
This is one of my all time fav dishes! Hubby and I were just talking about it the other night- so I guess it’s meant for me to make this week! Looks fab, Peter!
Pass me a slice of bread Peter. Hipe you are enjoying your time in Greece…no question about that.
This looks delicious – mussels are a wonderful choice, and steaming them this way is a really classic, delicious treatment.
Peter, I love mussels, but I really stink at de-bearding them. Do you have any tricks, tools or suggestions? These all look lovely, by the way!
Mmmm! Some minced shallots or sliced fennel would really go well in the sauce.
This is one of my favorite meals eaten, of course, the French way (actually Belgian) with fries. My husband is the specialist and he makes it whenever the mussels are plump and gorgeous at the market. Yum!
You slay me with your shellfish dishes Peter. This one no exception.
LL