White Wine Mussels

Give your summertime meal a bit of international flare with this French-inspired dish you would find in a traditional Parisian bistro. Tie your meal together by adding some fresh crusty bread to dip in it, or by pouring it over linguine.

YOU WILL NEED:

6 1/2 lbs. Mussels
2/3 cup All-purpose flour
5 tbsp. Unsalted butter
3 tbsp. Olive oil
13 Garlic cloves
1 tsp. Saffron threads

SERVES 6

2 cups of Chopped Shallots
1 cup Canned plum tomatoes
3/4 cup Flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup Fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper
2 cups Chardonnay

DIRECTIONS
Start by cleaning the mussels. Soak them for 30 minutes in a mixture of four quarts water and the all-purpose flour.

Drain the mussels and remove the beards from each using your fingers. If the mussels still appear dirty or didn’t disgorge all the sand during the soak, scrub them under running water with a brush. Toss out any mussels whose shells aren’t tightly shut after the cleaning process.

Heat 1/4 cup of water and soak the saffron for 15 minutes. Set aside.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a stockpot, then add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes. During this time, mince the garlic cloves, drain and dice the tomatoes, and chop up the parsley and thyme leaves.

Add the garlic to the stockpot and cook for an additional three minutes, or until the shallots become translucent. Pour in the saffron (along with the water it soaked in), parsley, thyme, tomatoes, and wine. Mix in 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Stir and bring to a boil.

Stir in the mussels and cover for 8-10 minutes over medium heat. Discard any mussels that do not open during the cooking process. Give the stockpot a good shake — keeping the lid on — to ensure the mussels don’t stick to the bottom.

Pour the mussels and sauce into a large serving bowl and enjoy hot.

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