Moules!

And now to the main course of the Moules Frites!  I made a version with white wine, garlic, and cream, called Moules Poulette if your French - and the recipe came from Jaques Pepin's cookbook, so I guess that makes sense.  It was going to be hard to beat the french fries, and I think these may have done it.  When I made the decision to take on mussels, I thought it was going to be hard, strenuous and difficult to get anything close to what I ate in France.  But, you know what, they were a thousand times easier than the fries and really took no time at all.  The hardest part for sure was making sure they were all clean and beard-less.  We got ours at Costco and therefore had a gabazillion, I am sure even the cleaning would be easier with fewer mussels.  The cleaning is an important step!  A lot of silt came off.  I just soaked them in cold water a few times until there wasn't anything coming off in the water.

Mussels in a Cream Sauce
5 lbs cleaned mussels (feeds 6)
1 medium chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 c. chopped parsley
1/2 t. ground pepper
Dash of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Dash of salt
1 c. dry white wine
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 c. heavy cream

Add all ingredients except the flour, butter and cream to a large pot.  Bring to a boil and cover.  Cook for approximately ten minutes, shaking the pot twice during the cooking process.  After ten minutes, check on the mussels.  If they are all open, you're ready!  What's nice is you can add the butter and eat the mussels as is right now.  Crazy easy right???  But I wanted the french creamy version so I had to complete just a few more steps.  Melt the butter in a small bowl and add the flour and whisk to combine.  Once the mussels are finished, remove from the pot and add in the butter and flour mixture.  Bring to a simmer and let simmer for about two minutes, whisking frequently.  Add in the cup of cream and bring back to a boil.  You can add the mussels back to the pot, or ladle the sauce over the mussels.  And now you can enjoy your creamy mussels!

Stud and I had some friends over to enjoy all of the mussels and this was such a great sit around the dinner table and laugh and drink wine kind of meal.  We sat around the table for a long time, and despite the fact that we only had four, we managed to finish off all of the mussels.  It was so tempting to keep snacking despite the fact that I was stuffed with mussels and french fries.  We served this meal with a big salad, some french bread to sop up all the delicious sauce, and, of course, red wine.  The sauce was so amazingly tasty.  Rich, but paired with seafood it was a great match.  I considered (but I was too lazy), removing all the cooked mussels from their shells and tossing the meat with the cream sauce in a pasta.  That still might happen.  Will happen.  Can't wait.

Pommes Frites

I really wanted to make french fries.  They are one of those foods I can't resist, so I figured it was about time I made them for myself.  They are also the classic French accompaniment to mussels, so I had the perfect start.  I was really worried that my house would smell like fried food for days, but it really wasn't that bad.  These are double fried (YUM), and I covered the pot in between the fry sessions and I think that helped cut down on the odor.  Also, this recipe comes mainly from Cooks Illustrated, that place where they test a thousand recipes until they find the best one.  That was evident in this recipe, especially when I read the first sentence, "For those who like it, flavoring the oil with a few tablespoons of bacon grease adds a subtle, meaty flavor to the fries." YES PLEASE.

Pommes Frites
3 Idaho potatoes (for ample fries, I would do 1 potato per person)
2 Q. vegetable oil
4 T. bacon fat
Salt
Parsley

Using a mandolin, slice the potatoes into french fries.  It makes it so easy to have a mandolin and slice slice slice and you have a ton of fries!  I just left the skins on to make it easier and I like the look.  Soak the potatoes in ice water for at least thirty minutes.  Drain the potatoes and pat dry. Heat the oil and bacon fat until it reaches 350 degrees.  Fry the fries in small batches, for about 6 minutes, until they are light golden.  Remove from the oil and set to drain on a paper bag, I just used one from the grocery.  They fit perfectly in a cookie sheet and absorb all that extra grease.  Make sure to get the oil back up to 350 before you fry the next batch.  They need to sit for at least ten minutes, and up to two hours before their second fry.  Get the oil back up to 350 and fry them again in small batches for just about a minute until they are dark golden.  Remove and place on a new paper bag.  Dust with salt and parsley and toss until coated.

These were so crispy and amazing.  I was worried because when they came out the first time, they were limp and not at all crispy.  I think something about the cooling to room temp and then re-frying makes them crisp up.  And I can see serving these up with some dipping sauces and pretty much making a meal out of it.  There will for sure be more homemade french fries served here - maybe next is some steak frites?  Or one with truffle oil??  Or duck fat instead of bacon fat???  Endless options.

Moules Frites

Want to know what I made over the weekend??? Moules frites (mussels and French fries), the most amazing southern French dish. But for now, all you get is this teaser photo until I can get my act together and type up the recipes!

Daily Fluff

OK so I know, two posts about Beau in one week might be over-doing my obsession, but this picture.  Oh my.  I can't stop laughing.  He was looking all cute so I went to snap a pic and he decided to attack....and this is what I captured.  I feel like this is a much more accurate representation of my life than the little snuggle creature he appears to be in most pics on the blog.

"Special" Pasta

Yet another pasta dish.  I had grand plans for dinner last night.  Then it was a nice night and I sat outside too long and played with Beau, and then it was 8pm, I was starved, and my grand plans flew out the window.  I needed something quick and easy and that involved items I already had on hand - enter pasta, garlic, and pepper flakes.  Notice a trend?  Stud and I both discovered our love for this pasta dish - I think called Aglio e Olio in Italy - as young children.  For Stud, it was called "special" pasta, and for me, it was as fancy as things got.  I think I was like twelve before I considered messing with my classic butter and Parmesan cheese.  And now, it takes as long as your pasta does to cook and you're ready to go, so it's become a quick and delicious staple here.

Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Pepper Flakes

1 lb pasta
1/4 c. olive oil
5 cloves of garlic
1 T. red pepper flakes
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 T. pasta sprinkle (dried thyme, rosemary, basil)
2 T. butter

Start the pasta water.  I used angel hair simply because it cooks faster.  I was staaaarving.  Anyways, in a large skillet, warm up your olive oil and dice the garlic.  Add to the oil and cook for a few minutes until fragrant.  Add in the pepper flakes and cook for a few minutes more.  I am terrified of burning garlic, so I always watch it like a hawk and turn off the heat as soon as some of the smaller pieces begin turning golden.  In this case, since this cooks much faster than the pasta, I just turned the heat back on when the pasta was finished.  Add the finished pasta to the oil, garlic, and pepper, along with the butter, herbs, and Parmesan cheese and toss to combine over low heat.  Then enjoy your special pasta! 

This was the perfect solo dinner for me last night and I made a ton to bring into work for the rest of the week because I know I will not get sick of this pasta.  It's got a little bit of everything going for it - cheesy, spicy, garlicy, and it's pasta which is my fav.  And it would be so so so much better with some fresh basil, but alas, it's not that warm here yet.  Soon enough... I have grand plans for my garden this year, hopefully things will fare better than they did last year...which was three dead tomato plants, a handful of grape tomatoes, and a ton of parsley.

Daily Fluff

Things Beau has missed with the warm weather: the sun roof.

Spring!

Spring has arrived in the bluegrass state! This past weekend was beautiful and spent doing yard work...big projects. My daffodils are blooming and it's warming up and I'm so so so so excited for sunshine!