mussels

Simple Lessons in Roast Tomato Soup with Mussels & Fennel

26 Dec 2011
Roast Tomato and Mussels Soup

I don't know whether to say I have a cooking lesson or a history lesson to share with you today. Either way it all starts (and ends) with Roast Tomato Soup with Mussels & Fennel, so I hope that much catches your attention and you'll stick around for the lesson.

It's a lesson I picked up from an old book. You see, I like old cookbooks. I grab them when I see them. I have one called Italian Bouquet from 1958 and I turn to it again and again. Though technically it's not a cookbook as it contains very few recipes. It's really more of a food lover's epicurean travel guide to Italy. It offers all sorts of interesting information about regional Italian cooking traditions.

Recently I was flipping through this book and came across the section on Sicily. Many of the foods typical to the region are described here, and since Sicily is an island a lot of space is dedicated to seafood.

Which sets the stage for an interesting culinary technique I learned from this book. It's a great way to add authentic of the sea flavor to soup, without using a whole lot of actual seafood. Which may seem odd. But remember Sicily is traditionally a land of extremes. So when a Sicilian cook's fishmonger was unable to supply her with all the fish she wanted for her brodu di pisci, or the family's budget didn't allow for an elaborate array of fresh fish, she had a trick. She'd use a combination of garlic, parsley, chilies, and salt pounded into a rough paste and then fried in local olive oil. This paste could be added to water and used as a simple stock for soup. The miracle of this method is that it produces a stock that does indeed taste a bit like the sea.

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Roast Tomato Soup with Mussels & Fennel

tomato and mussels soup
By jgreghenry Published December 24, 2011
Prep time: 120
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 4 lb roma tomatoes, roughly torn or chopped into big chunks
  • 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 4 clv garlic, peeled & chopped
  • 1 fennel bulb with stems and fronds, separated
  • 0.75 c olive oil
  • 1 pn each kosher salt and black pepper
  • 4 T flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
  • 1 red calabrian chili, or similar, with seeds minced
  • 6 c water
  • 3 lb mussels, scrubbed & debearded

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the tomato pieces with all of their juices, the chopped onion, 2 chopped garlic cloves, and the fennel stems and most of the fronds (save the bulb for the soup and a few feathery fronds for garnish) onto a parchment line rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1/2 cup olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Toss to get all the vegetables coated in oil. Roast the vegetables about 1 hour and 15 minutes until slightly charred, rotating the sheet halfway through cooking. Remove from oven and let cool somewhat.

Scrape the vegetables and any accumulated juices into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 10 or 12 times, scraping down the sides once or twice, until a very rough puree is formed. Push the mixture through a fine meshed sieve or tami using a wooden spoon into a clean bowl. Work in batches, discarding the solids as you work. You should get about 2 1/2 to 3 cups of silky smooth sauce, thick enough to coat a wooden spoon.

Quarter the fennel bulb lengthwise then remove the core from each section. Slice the fennel crosswise into thin slivers. Set aside.

Using a mortar and pestle grind the remaining chopped garlic cloves, parsley, red chili with its seeds, and a large pinch of salt into a very rough paste. Heat the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil in the bottom of a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the paste and fry until fragrant about 3 minutes. Add the water to the pot along with the fennel slices and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook until fennel softens somewhat, about 8 minutes.

Add the clean mussels to the pot and cover it with a lid. Cook until the shells open, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let the mussels cool in the liquid until they can be handled easily. Once cool enough, discard any mussels that did not open and remove the rest from their shells. Discard the shells. Divide the mussels between 6 shallow soup bowls.

Add the tomato sauce to the broth in the soup pot, adjust seasoning. Bring to a boil, then pour some of the hot broth over the mussels in each bowl. Garnish with reserved chopped fennel fronds. Serve hot with crusty bread.

Curry Favor with these Farmed Mussels

19 Aug 2011
curried steamed mussels

Ready for another easy recipe? It's an inspired take on mussels. It uses sour cream to deftly tame the boldness of curry without losing any complexity. It's a masterpiece from Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

I am calling my simplified version, Curried Mussels a la Jean-Georges. Though simple to prepare, it's an elegant combination of flavors. The preparation is easy, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to befuddle you some.

You see, Ken came home recently with a big bag of mussels from the plain ole grocery store. At $5.99 a pound I knew they were going to be farmed mussels without even asking. But did I go all diva on him and slam around the kitchen demanding he don a wet suit and get me some wild mussels?? Did I? Did I?

Nope, I like farmed mussels. Are you confused?

I am sure you've noticed that I'm quite willing to hold my breath until I turn blue in an effort to gently urge you away from farmed salmon. So you may have it in your head that all aqua-culture is bad. Well that's just not true. I like farmed tilapia too.

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Curried Mussels a la Jean-Georges

curry steamed mussels
By jgreghenry Published August 18, 2011
Prep time: 20
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 2 T unsalted butter
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 0.5 c sweet white wine such as riesling
  • 4 lb mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
  • 0.5 c sour cream
  • 1 t curry powder
  • 1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 0 salt and white pepper to taste

Directions

Place the butter butter in saucepan large enough to hold all the mussels. Turn the heat to medium. Once the butter melts, add the shallots and cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the white wine and mussels, bring the heat to high, and cover. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the mussels open, about 8 minutes. Remove the mussels with a slotted spoon.

Strain the liquid into a bowl, wipe out the pan, then return the liquid to the clean (grit free) pan. Bring to a boil, add the sour cream and the curry powder. Reduce heat to a simmer, add the lemon juice and cook about 3 more minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and white pepper or a bit more curry powder. Do not add so much curry as to overly define the sauce. Nuance is your goal. Return the mussels to the pot and gently reheat. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

Source: Adapted from Jean-Gorges Vongerichten

FoodBuzz Challenge #2: Turkish Mussels-Taking it to the Streets

26 Sep 2010
Stuffed Mussels, Midye Dolmas

Stuffed Mussels Istanbul Street Style- Midye Dolmas VOTE for me here! 

Street food. You love it or you hate it. There’s rarely a middle ground. For some travelers, seeking out street food is the ultimate exploration of authentic local cuisine and is a particularly exciting way to experience a vibrant part of a region’s food culture. Others worry that they might ingest a particularly vibrant culture of bacteria, so they avoid street food altogether.

I understand the trepidation. Nothing spoils a trip more than the tummy woes, but I am a rather adventurous eater and traveler. So I take my chances with the revenge and have only been inflicted a couple of times in my life. Which is a good thing because eating is often the point of a particular destination for me, so I don’t shy away from sampling the local fare in the same manner as many locals– on the street and on the go.

In Eastern Europe they love street food. It's portable and easy to eat. There’s no need for a table or even utensils– perfect for strolling through the large market squares arm-in-arm with a friend, or as a late night snack after the movies or before the dance club.

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