Cider, Chilli Mussels

Serves

4-6

Ingredients

2kg Sea Bounty mussels

The Sauce Ingredients
1/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil ( EVO)
2 finely sliced french shallots – use a mandolin
4 cloves garlic – finely chopped
2 long red chilies – remove seeds for less heat
3 heaped teaspoons chili jam – I use Piknik chili jam because its local and lovely
Good pinch of sea salt

Bunch of flat leaf parsley – stalks and leaves
2 x 250-300ml cider – I use Flying Brick Original Cider, it has some sweetness that is perfect for this dish
Some nice crusty bread for dipping

Method

THE SAUCE
EVO goes into medium frypan on low/medium heat – I use induction and have mine on level 9. Add finely sliced shallots, garlic, chili, and chili jam and your decent pinch of sea salt. Cook this down for at least 10 minutes.
**KEEP AN EYE ON IT, IT WILL CATCH AND BURN IF LEFT UNATTENDED. YOU WANT THE SHALLOTS TO HAVE SOME COLOR/CARAMALISATION – IT ADDS DEPTH OF FLAVOUR – BUT NOT TO BURN.

Turn off heat and set aside. You can cook this a couple of days ahead of time if you like. Keep it refridgerated if keeping for a later date.

PREPARING THE MUSSELS
Take your mussels out of any packaging they are in and rinse them well under cold running water. Have a good sniff of your rinsed mussels, if you have one that is NQR you should be able to more easily find it after rinsing them and throw that one away, I don’t worry about debearding my mussels.for this recipe. I find it easier to remove the beards whilst we are eating them. You can choose to remove before cooking, it’s up to you.

If your mussels are super fresh, they will contain a lot of sea water, so you will end up with a lot more liquid in your pot after steaming the mussels open. If your mussels are a couple of days old when you are using them add ½ cup of cider to your pot prior to cooking, this will create the steam that will allow the mussels to open.

COOKING THE MUSSELS
Now add some roughly chopped parsley stalks to your pot. Add cider and some cold water to pot, put on a lid and place pot on high heat. (I use level 9 on my induction cooktop). After a couple of minutes give the pot a good shake and have a peek to check how the mussels are going. If they are beginning to open give them a toss around with some big spoons. Place the lid back on for another minute or two then take off the heat and drain off about half of the liquid in your pot. (This will vary depending on how fresh your mussels were – the fresher they are, the more liquid you will have)

Put the pot back on the heat and add The Sauce. Add the remaining cider and some chopped parsley. Toss this all around in your pot until it’s all mixed through, and the mussels are all coated in the broth. Turn off heat and serve immediately. Don’t forget that delicious bread for dipping! Enjoy.