Spanish-style Mussels

Mussels are delicious and relatively inexpensive seafood. There are many variations to cooking "mussels" (that is mussels as a main dish, versus as part of a stew, pasta, or other dish), some of the basic foundations include:

• White wine or even a beer (like a white Belgium ale)
• Shallots and garlic
• Fresh squeezed lemon juice
• A little butter to finish the sauce
• Good bread of dipping and soaking up the sauce
• And of course, properly prepped, quality mussels

Other than those foundations, you can experiment with different fresh or dry herbs (such as dried bay leaves which I am found of, or saffron), various sausages (chorizo or italian) or cured pork products (such as pancetta or proscuitto), heavy creams, chili peppers or chili pepper flakes, or just the basic foundation elements which is delicious.

Spanish-style Mussels

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of mussels (here is a link to detailed instructions for proper handling and cleaning of mussels: Cleaning Mussels)
• 4 - 5 vine-ripened tomatoes (try to select very ripe tomatoes.  wash under cold water and cut in half across the middle)
• 3 cloves of garlic (peeled and cut length-wise into shards)
• 2 links of uncooked chorizo sausage (casing removed)
• 5 shallots (peeled and sliced thinly)
• 3 more cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced thinly)
• 2 cups of white wine (such as a pinot grigio/gris)
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 lemon (cut in half for squeezing the juice)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 loaf of sliced Ciabatta bread
• quality extra virgin olive oil

Method

Grill Dipping Bread:  Brush olive oil onto one side of each bread slice.  Preheat a grill pan over medium high heat.  Working in batches, add a single layer of bread slices to the hot grill pan.  Grill each side until some grill markings are achieved and the outside is slightly crunchy to the touch.  About 1 minute per side for a properly heated grill pan.

Prepare Roasted Tomato Broth:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Place tomato halves in an aluminum foil lined baking pan, cut sides up. Lightly coat tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil.  Press garlic shards into tomato flesh (it is okay for top of garlic shard to stick out) to even distribute across all of the tomato halves.  Sprinkle some gray sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper over top of tomatoes.  Roast tomatoes in oven for 30 minutes.  

Place roasted tomato halves with garlic shards in metal chinois over a bowl or large measuring cup.  Using a heavy wooden spoon press roasted tomatoes into the bottom and bottom-sides of the chinois until most of the liquid and fine pulp is strained into the catching bowl and only the skins, seeds, and garlic pieces are left in the chinois.

Cook Mussels:  Heat a large cooking pot (such as a pot for boiling pasta) over medium high heat.  Once warm, add a little olive oil to prevent sticking.  Break chorizo sausages into small bite-sized pieces into the pot.  Saute chorizo for about 1 minute.  Add shallots and continue to saute until shallots become slightly translucent and chorizo is just cooked through, about 2 more minutes.  Add sliced garlic and cleaned mussels.  Saute for 1 minute and then add white wine, roasted tomato broth, and bay leaves to pot. Continue to cook until you can no longer smell alcohol in the steam coming off the pot and all (or most) of the mussels have fully opened (turn up the heat if necessary to achieve a light boil).  Be careful to not over cook the mussels as they become rubbery when over cooked (cooking time should be in the 4 to 5 minute range).  Discard mussels that refuse to open.  Turn off heat and add butter and fresh squeezed lemon juice to the pot.  Mix until incorporated and the butter is melted.  Optionally drizzle some quality extra virgin olive oil.  Serve the mussels rustic style right in the pot they were cooked in!