Mussels in Cider and Cream
A pot of mussels is the cheapest bit of theatre you can put on a table. They cost very little, they cook in about five minutes, and everybody gets stuck in with their fingers and a spare shell to pinch the meat out with. Cider and cream is the West Country way of doing it.
My Mum will order something with seafood in it every single time we eat out, and mussels are usually the first thing she scans the menu for. Cooking them at home feels like it ought to be harder than it is. You need a big pan with a lid, a hot hob, and about ten minutes of proper attention.
Sorting them is the only real job. Give them a scrub under cold water, pull away any stringy beards, and throw out any that are cracked or that stay open when you tap them. Once they are cooked the rule reverses, so anything still shut goes in the bin.
Serve this with bread, and plenty of it, because the cidery cream left in the bottom of the pan is the best part of the whole thing. It feeds two as a main or four as a starter. For a sharper version another night, my mussels in tomato and chilli sauce go in completely the other direction.
Mussels in Cider and Cream
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2 people
Serving size: 504g
Calories per serving: 641
Fat per serving: 42g
Ingredients
- 1.5kg live mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 25g butter
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 300ml dry cider
- 150ml double cream
- Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
- Crusty bread to serve
- Black pepper to season
Method
- Tip the mussels into a sink of cold water and scrub the shells. Pull away any beards, and discard any that are cracked or that will not close when you tap them firmly.
- Melt the butter in a very large pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook them gently for 4 minutes, until soft but not coloured at all.
- Pour in the cider and turn the heat up high. Let it bubble hard for 2 minutes to drive off the raw edge of the alcohol.
- Tip in the mussels, clamp the lid on and cook for 4-5 minutes, shaking the pan once or twice, until the shells have opened up.
- Lift the mussels into warm bowls with a slotted spoon, discarding any that stayed shut. Stir the double cream into the liquid left behind and let it bubble for a minute.
- Season the sauce with black pepper, stir most of the parsley through it and pour it over the mussels. Scatter the rest of the parsley on top and serve with plenty of bread.
