Moules Marinières

At the market Saturday morning, we'd been down and back up again, and the man who sells oysters gave us a super price on a couple of pounds of mussels - we took him up on it immediately because we know him well and eat his oysters all the time. Loic gave them a scrape and a scrub while I minced the shallots and prepared the ingredients, and in no time we were deep into a platter of steaming hot delicious mussels. For a batch of 3-4 pounds of mussels:

Moules Marinières

3-4 pounds of mussels
2 big shallots
1 clove of garlic (optional)
1 bouquet of thyme, bay leaf, and a sprig of tarragon
25 grams butter
freshly ground black pepper
25 cl (a glass) of dry white wine
juice of two lemons
1/2 a bunch of parsley

Brush and wash the mussels under running water, eliminate the mussels that don't close up during the process. Peel and mince the shallots and garlic, wash and mince the parsley.

Melt the butter in the bottom of a pot that will eventually hold all of the mussels. Add the shallots and garlic, and saute it over medium heat until it's soft, without browning it. Add the white wine, the lemon juice, and plenty of pepper. Add the herb bouquet, bring to a rolling boil, and let boil for 3 minutes.

Toss the mussels into the boiling liquid, cover, and let cook for 4 minutes, shaking the pot to mix a few times. As soon as the moules have opened, remove from the heat.

Remove the bouquet garni, and with a large slotted spoon, transfer the mussels to a platter. Use a soup ladle to top them with the cooking liquid, , being careful not to stir up any sediment that may be on the bottom. Dust liberally with minced parsley and serve immediately. (don't leave out the parsley, it really adds to the experience!)