A muscly debut. But no beard.

On Tuesday night, Ween came over for dinner. And even though she is partly responsible for the Gossip Girl twilight zone, she did very kindly provide a distraction for several hours!

Mussels Steamed with Fennel & Crème Fraîche

I’ve never cooked mussels before, which I am slightly embarrassed about, because now that I’ve done it, I’ve realised how easy it is. And not just the cooking part, but the purchasing part.

Off I went to the fish shop, fear building in my veins – what experience awaited me this time?

FSL: Can I help you?

Me: Yes, I’d like some mussels please?

FSL: One?

At this point, I nearly collapsed. Was she serious? Did I want one bloody mussel? Of course I bloody didn’t! Then I realised that she was pointing at the one kilo bags of cleaned, de-bearded and vacuum packed mussels.

Me: Oh… Yes… One please.

Insert sigh of relief here.

And so off I trotted home with my mussels, all ready to go.

I squeezed in a quick episode of GG before Ween arrived, then hit the kitchen.

An onion and a fennel bulb, chopped finely and sweated in the pan with some thyme and dried chilli. Then I threw in the mussels, a big glass of white wine and the sour cream. Lid on and simmering away for 5 minutes. All done. Served with some crusty bread and a glass of white wine.





Seriously, how easy is that?? I never knew. And now that I do, I figure I can buy those ready-to-go bags of mussels and try any combo of flavour I like. Too easy.

Xx

PS – OMG! I’ve done 84 recipes! While I’ve been living it up on the Upper East Side (sort of…), I’ve breezed past the half way mark without even noticing!