Hot Rod Mussels: Thursday, September 15, 2011

First of all, this is what happens when you let a six-year-old name the recipe. However, when said-six-year-old makes the transition from The World’s Pickiest Eater to Devourer of All Things Edible in a matter of two years or less, you let him call things whatever the heck he wants. 

Not one member of my family had any real idea what we wanted for dinner Thursday night but all had the same general craving… seafood. After work we made a beeline to the seafood counter to see what looked fresh (and with any luck, not terribly expensive). A quick decision was made and we walked out with two pounds of live mussels for $7.98. 

Knowing they were alive, Ivan kept peeking into the bag waiting for them to do tricks (or at least something lively and entertaining). Chris cruised the aisles muttering to herself, taking an audible personal inventory of what we had at home to cook with the mussels.  I wandered over to the beer aisle. 

This is what we do.

When we got home this is what my favorite chef came up with:

Prep

Two pounds of live mussels, on sale. Ivan was in charge of scrubbing them, Chris removed the beards and I picked out the iTunes playlist. I landed on Chris’s new “Food” playlist and Dead Weather’s Cut Like A Buffalo seemed like a good, lively way to kick things off despite the fact that we were having seafood. 

4 Garlic cloves chopped

2” Chunk of fresh ginger, grated

½ Red chili pepper, finely chopped

Lemon Grass, chopped

Seafood stock (frozen leftover from Seafood Date Night)

Can of coconut milk

White wine

½ Large ripe tomato, in chunks

Small batch of chopped cauliflower

Few chopped scallions and cilantro leaves for garnish

Cooking

Par boil the cauliflower (apparently this is the same as partially boiling something but more advanced terminology for sophisticated cooking types).

Note: Here, Chris announced that she really, really hates waiting for water to boil as it holds up her progress. I hold an opposite opinion as it gives me the opportunity to wander off and do something fun until I find out that all the water boiled off while I was gone. This is why she is the cook and I hand her stuff and take notes.

With cauliflower par boiled, it is time to get down to business….

Heat pan on medium high, add oil when hot.

Add ginger and garlic

Add tablespoon or so of lemon grass

Add par boiled cauliflower (or partially boiled cauliflower if you prefer)

Add tomatoes

Add red chili peppers

Little salt and pepper

Little white wine – some for the pan, some for the chef

“In go the mussels!” – Chris

“Yaaaayyy!!!!” – Ivan

Add ½ cup seafood stock

Lid it and bring it to a boil

Stir. It helps if while you stir, you look really cute and say “mmmmkay…” contemplatively. At least it helps Chris at our house.

Add ½ can of coconut milk

Bring back to boil.  This is a good time to revisit the “waiting for stuff to boil” conversation with an added discussion about the disadvantages of electric stoves versus gas.  (We will get there one day, Baby. Promise.)

Taste

Declare the meal “YUMMY!” but decide that the sauce should be thicker.

The mussels are done so remove them from the sauce.

Continue to cook the sauce to thicken it. In the meantime, add a little more chili pepper and cilantro.

When sauce has achieved the perfect thickness, pour it back over the mussels.

Serve to happy, hungry family with some bread and a little bit of leftover rice (I cannot remember what meal we had used rice for but I am sure it was good).

Results and Final Thoughts

               

I have only come around on shellfish in the last few years and meals like this make me hate myself for all the good ones I surely missed out on in my past. This is why it brings me such pleasure to see my six-year-old son dive into them like a seasoned pro. Ivan dove into the bowl of mussels like most kids assault their birthday cake and I could not have been more proud. My pride was not just for him, but for my wife because without her, shellfish at our house would likely begin and end with shrimp alfredo from a bag in the frozen section at Ingles.

Anyway, the mussels were cooked to perfection. The sauce was good enough to drink but we set a good example for the child and settled for sopping it up with bread and rice. The coconut milk and cilantro gave the dish an Asian flavor and the rice complimented this perfectly.  

The cauliflower was also an unexpected bonus. Chris added it for two reasons – first, she wanted the meal to include a vegetable and, more importantly, we had some cauliflower she wanted to use up to clear fridge space (a lot of discoveries are made this way at our house). The result was that I could have eaten a huge bowl of cauliflower covered in that sauce over rice and been a happy camper. It had such a mild flavor that combined with the sauce for a unique treat in and of itself. As we say though, cauliflower is a very underrated vegetable.

If I had any complaints at all it is that we only bought two pounds of mussels. I am pretty sure we all had plenty of room and desire for a few more. Heck, Ivan might have eaten two pounds of Hot Rod Mussels all on his own.

And no, we have no idea why he named them that.