{New Zealand mussels steamed with white wine, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and fresh herbs will warm you up on a cold winter night reminding you of the ocean in each bite.}

I asked for a fillet knife for Christmas. Thats what a fish monger’s daughter wants — a large sharp knife with which to fillet my own fish and learn to make sushi once and for all. For now though, other seafood will have to suffice – which these beautifully green mussels most certainly do not! That would be an insult, they will bedazzle you (not literally but if you insist I will); and forever be imprinted on your fragile shellfish psyche!

Well, you know what I meant to say. Obviously, I know that you know that I know that you are not a deep sea mollusk of some kind! Ha, that would just be ridiculous, mollusks perched on their barnacles reading my blog.

When you find these lovely little greens at the fish market looking fresh and vibrant, act first, think later. You can always make them Italian style like this, French with a Pernod broth, or the yummy Thai style with coconut milk.

mussels, 30-40 scrubbed clean
1/2 bottle dry chardonnay, plus a little more
1 shallot, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 28 oz can stewed whole tomatoes
1 handful fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
fresh thyme, 3 sprigs stripped, just shy of a teaspoon
coarse sea salt like Maldon
fresh ground black pepper
a small slice of butter
good quality olive oil

Make sure you scrub each mussel in ice cold water for sand and pull the bit of seaweed off that each one is still tightly hanging on to. Find your largest pot with a tightly fitting lid, swirl in some olive oil three times around and add the butter. Once hot, add shallots and garlic until golden. pour in about half the bottle of wine and let that cook down a bit. Spoon in about 5 of your stewed tomatoes after snipping off the green ends where the stem was. Pour in about half of the liquid from the can of tomatoes, add thyme, parsley, a good pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper, and cover.

Let the liquid slowly boil while covered for about 12 minutes, then using a wooden spoon break up the whole tomatoes so they blend more into the broth. Turn up the heat to high, add mussels, and cover tightly. I takes about 15 minutes for them to open, check on them and maybe cook a couple more minutes like I did to give the last ones a chance to open. I ended up throwing away six that never opened.

To serve them, place mussels in a large shallow bowl and ladle the sauce over. Make sure to have toasted some good rustic bread on the table to sop up all the delicious broth. Take your time and enjoy how incredible these taste…

{tags New Zealand green mussels mussels in wine tomato broth recipe}