PrintDinner Tonight: Mussels with Black Pepper
I’ve only had mussels, oh, a few dozen times in the past year, but for some reason I had always thought that the key to success was a better liquid for them to cook in. Chorizo and champagne worked well, as did a simple onion, celery, butter, and vermouth mixture. So imagine my surprise when I found this recipe from Mark Bittman, who wants absolutely nothing at all.
This takes the emphasis off the ingredients and places it on the technique. Bittman suggests cooking the mussels in a cast iron skillet over really, really high heat. Add a few cracks of pepper and a pinch of salt—and that’s it. No butter, no onions, and no wine. He explains that the high heat gives the mussels a distinctly smoky aroma, almost like what you’d expect if they had been cooked over a wood. I’d have to agree. It’s weird, illogical, and a slight bit mysterious. But it works unbelievably well.
Black Skillet Mussels
Ingredients
Mussels
Pepper and salt
Procedure
Place a cast iron skillet over high heat for at least 5 minutes. Rinse off the mussels, discard the open ones, and debeard, if need be. Add mussels to skillet, cook until they have all opened; discard any that do not open. Crack the pepper and pinch the salt.
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2 Comments:
Hmmm.... But what about the mandatory, savory and copious mussel-juice-infused liquid for bread dipping? Does this recipe yield enough liquid goodness?
pgoat at 11:37AM on 07/31/07
I haven't tried this recipe but I did try something that has to be almost exactly the same thing at restaurant Lulu in San Francisco. They were the best mussels I've ever had, it sort of does the same thing as roasting does for asparagus, concentrates and heightens the flavor, its amazing, but alas no liquidy goodness.
mia_pia at 5:28PM on 07/31/07