Inspired by Trish's latest Pin It and Do It Challenge, this week's post is about my experience preparing mussels at home. I love most types of fish and shellfish, but only developed a taste for mussels within the past couple of years. Actually, I never even tried them until our favorite local restaurant began offering Thai Curry Mussels as an appetizer. Initially I sampled just the broth from my husband's bowl, but the second time we ordered it I had worked up the courage to try a mussel, too. I suppose that over the years I'd convinced myself I didn't like them, and was shocked to discover they were delicious!
We soon found ourselves splitting mussels as an appetizer whenever the opportunity presented itself. The range of flavors was astonishing and I began to wonder if I could replicated any of them at home. Wegmans almost always has fresh mussels available, but a little research was necessary.
As I began pinning recipes, it hit me that I didn't know how to clean or prep the mussels. A quick search turned up this pin which lead to the article "How to Clean Mussels" at allrecipes.com. It told me all I needed to know... with photos. A Pinterest win!
The first recipe I tried was this pin for Curried Mussels from A Beautiful Bite. It was very tasty, but with heavy cream and full-fat coconut milk, not quite as healthful as I would have liked. It also had a strong Indian flavor, not like the Thai from our local restaurant. A qualified success, but I was so wrapped up in the preparation that I forgot to take a picture. This one if from Pinterest.
Next up was Mussels with White Wine from epicurious.com (my pin). The cooking technique was the same as my first attempt, but this recipe was much lighter and more to our taste. It definitely earned on spot in my recipe collection. I even remembered to photograph the finished product, although the one from the website looks much more appealing.
Sometime over the next couple of weeks, I plan to try Thai Steamed Mussels. This could be even closer to the restaurant dish. We'll see...
Do you like mussels? Have you prepared them at home? I'm open to suggestions.
Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.
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