If you remember my first post, you’ll know that one of my favourite dinners is bangers & mash and here’s another favourite, moules frites served with aioli. That translated is mussels, chips and garlic mayonnaise, homemade garlic mayonnaise.
I absolutely love mussels, can’t get enough of them, and they’re so good for you & low in fat. I cook mine in a tomato based sauce as opposed to the traditional cream based moules mariniere and have recently started accompanying them with a bowl of wedges & aioli (I went for the baguette & butter option in the past).
They’re so easy but a couple of tips, the first is to make sure the mussels are spick and span before they go near a pan. Every single mussel must be individually cleaned; any barnacles on the shell should be scraped off with a knife, the hairy bit at the ‘hinge’ should be ripped off (this is called de-bearding) and any mussels that don’t close tightly when tapped should be discarded. I find it good to let the mussels sit in a bowl of clean water for about an hour before cooking and change the water at least once which helps to get rid of most of the grit from the closed mussels.
The second tip is for the aioli or any cold emulsion sauce; add the oil a little at a time and ensure it is completely incorporated into the egg yolks before adding anymore which will prevent the sauce from splitting. It’s a lot easier than people make out and is definitely worth a try. So here’s the recipe.
Moules Frites – Sarah Style
Serves Two
What You Need
2 Tbsp olive oil
Enough mussels for two people (ask your fishmonger)
1 onion diced
2 cloves of garlic sliced
1 glass of white wine
1 handful of parsley finely sliced
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (I use half a jar of Bunalun crushed tomatoes)
1 chilli if you’d like the dish to have a kick (this is optional)
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tsp Dijon mustard
½ Tsp salt
1 clove garlic grated
5 fl oz oil (I mix grape seed oil with olive oil)
2 baking potatoes cut into wedges
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 handful of rosemary
Sea salt & pepper
What You Do
· Par boil the potatoes for 10 minutes, strain out the water, add olive oil, rosemary, sea salt & pepper and transfer to the oven on a baking tray.
· Cook for 30 minutes at 200C.
· For the aioli, put the egg yolks, vinegar, mustard, garlic and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the oil a drop at a time, fully incorporating all the time until all the oil is used up.
· Gently fry the onion & garlic in a pan until soft and remove to a bowl when translucent.
· For the mussels, heat some olive oil in a large pan to a very high temperature and add the mussels. Straight away, add the cooked onions & garlic, tomatoes, wine, parsley, chilli and put the lid on.
· Stir the mussels every now and again and remove the mussels from the pan when all are opened (this won’t take long – only a few minutes).
· Cook the sauce on high with the lid off for a few minutes and reduce by about half then pour over the mussels when ready to serve.
That sounds wonderful!
Posted by: Lisa | February 11, 2008 at 03:30 PM
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm what could be better then moules and frites, the best combination!
Posted by: Rachel@fairycakeheaven | February 11, 2008 at 07:58 PM
I prefer my mussels done this way too, I do them more or less the same, just without the chili!! I haven't had them in ages, time to rectify that, thanks for the reminder:)
Posted by: lorraine@italianfoodies | February 12, 2008 at 05:07 PM
I love mussels as well, and that sounds scrumptious!
Posted by: Kieran | February 12, 2008 at 06:52 PM
Love aioli, love mussels, love frites! That all looks fab :-)
Posted by: jen | February 12, 2008 at 07:14 PM
All - get cooking!!! This is your homework for the weekend and I want a full report on Monday. No excuses!!!
PS Lorraine, I only started adding the chilli lately but it's just as good without.
Posted by: Sarah@lettersonlunches | February 13, 2008 at 08:28 AM
Measurements must be really accurate on this one. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Posted by: hcg success stories | July 13, 2011 at 12:16 PM