Steamed Penn Cove Mussels

Well hello again blog world!  I promise I haven't forgotten you.  Life just got mildly crazy for a while.  Between a puking child, my parents visiting, giving 2 workshops at a youth convention, and providing temporary child care for a good friend who had her 2nd baby, I haven't been much of a gourmet cook.
Forgive me. 
I've made things like...breaded pork chops, spaghetti, and beef pad thai (same recipe as chicken).  Nothing too exciting.  Nothing much to blog about. 

I did however get to make some AMAZING steamed mussels while my parents were visiting for the weekend.

While shopping for seafood at Central Market last week I stalked the seafood counter.  They had some Penn Cove Mussels on sale and I was having a craving for some shellfish.  I thought about getting some the week before, but I couldn't seem to find any recipes for steamed mussels that didn't involve white wine.  Since I'm preggo we don't have any wine in the house and I wasn't going to buy a whole bottle for one recipe.  I'm always a little wary of cooking with alcohol if the cooking time is short too, because I'm not sure if all the alcohol will burn off if something is only simmered for 3 or 4 minutes. 

So I started up a conversation with the lady at the seafood counter and asked her if you could cook mussels without wine.  Her eyes went wide and she said, "Well of course honey!  Just use broth!!  Of course, of course."  That was a done deal.  She admired my children and we chat for a bit while she filled a bag with Penn Cove Mussels for me, all the while assuring me that these would be the best mussels I've ever tasted.  She said, "They are the best mussels anywhere!"  Cool.  Best ever and local.  I can deal with that.

I was a bit skeptical, however, because I didn't think that any mussel could really be that different from any other mussel..... even a frozen boxed mussel from New Zealand which is all I've ever really had or cooked. 

I was wonderfully mistaken!!
If you ever get a chance to have Penn Cove Mussels, take it!  They're amazing. They're not chewy.  They taste like a cross between oysters and clams.  They're so addicting!!! 

I'll be honest, I looked at so many recipes that I have no idea what recipe I actually went off of.  But I do remember what I did, so I'll tell you.

Steamed Penn Cove Mussels

1lb Penn Cove Mussels
1/4c vegetable broth (if you don't have wine issues, use white wine)
3tbsp butter
2 large cloves of garlic minced
2tsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Scrub and De-Beard your mussels.  Check out this article for some instructions on how to do that.

2.  Put your mussels and the broth into a pot, cover them and cook over medium heat for 4-6 minutes until the mussels have opened.  Remove the mussels with a slotted spoon and set them aside.  Discard the mussels that haven't opened. 

3.  Boil the broth on high for a minute or two.  Lower the heat to medium and add the garlic and butter. 

4.  Add the Mussels back in and add the parsley and pepper.  Stir everything until the mussels are coated in sauce.  Transfer to a serving tray and pour the rest of the sauce over the mussels. 



Not the greatest picture.  They were polished off pretty quickly, so I didn't get any other ones!



Geez, these things were so good I think I'll have to get more for this Friday.  Jon's not the hugest seafood fan and he seemed to like these well enough.

I served these as an appetizer before a large dinner, but I'd imagine that if you were having them for a main course you'd want to have about a pound per person.  I think I'll be serving these for dinner on Friday either with some foccacia bread or some garlic bread on homemade baguettes.  MMmm....

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Thank you God for new life!  Please bless our friends Steve, Josie and Lily and their new baby girl Dorothy! 

Amen.

Hummus

Didn't do too much cooking tonight.  Jon suggested that we just have the siopao leftovers for dinner.  What wife can complain when her husband asks for leftovers?  So with my little bit of extra time I decided to make some hummus.

Clare loves hummus and I thought if there's a good amount left over I could serve some at girl's night on Friday. 

Oh and when I say loves hummus, I mean she eats it alone.  I'll give her stuff to eat it with or spread it on, but those all end up being used as spoons.  I can't blame her.  This stuff is pretty darned good.  I'm not sure if it's the recipe or if it's just because it's so fresh, but I've never had better.  Instead of giving myself all the credit for that I'll thank David Lebovitz.  It's his recipe.

Check it out.  I think the pictures he took are much better than any of the ones I would have taken, so it's a much nicer blog post to look at.

Cabbagetown Hummus

One thing I did differently today than I normally do is that I made my own tahini!  The last time I sent Jon to the grocery for some tahini I almost cried when he told me the organic tahini cost like $13.  What the heck?  So after I learned that the lovely food processor that I got for my birthday (Thanks Ma!!) could make nut butters, I figured it must be able to make tahini too right?  Yes!  It was super easy too. 

All I did was dump a cup of sesame seeds in and let the food processor do it's thing for like 5 minutes or slightly more.  I had to scrape down the sides a few times.  After a little processing it was nice and smooth just like my $13 bottle.  Ugh, $13?!?!  So crazy.  Needless to say I will continue to frequent the bulk section for sesame seeds instead of emptying my wallet the next time I want to make hummus.  1cup of sesame seeds makes 1/2c of tahini.

You should definitely try this
1) because there's raw garlic in it and that's really good for your immune system
2) because garbanzo beans/chickpeas are good for you  Check it out!  Lots of protein, fiber, B6 and folate
3) because it's so good!!!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Dear God,
  Thank you for the joy of children.  Thank you for their innocence, curiosity, and excitement.  Help all of us to grow more like them every day.  Amen.

Spinach Alfredo Pasta with Garlic prawns

Since my parents gave us some prawns to take home last week, I figured I'd make them for our Friday meal.  I am sure there are some great spinach alfredo recipes out there, but I just didn't have the energy or interest to go looking for one tonight when I figured I could wing it. 



I did have more prawns than this, but I was trying to make a fancy looking picture!



This is another one of those really simple meals that someone would probably pay a good $13-15 for at a chain restaurant.  This also probably has 1000 less calories or 1000 less mg of sodium or something crazy like that.  Sometimes Jon finds nutrition facts at the restaurants we go to and I always wonder how the heck they get all that stuff in there.  How on earth can you fit that much fat and sodium into some dishes?  It's crazy. 

I really hate when he finds the nutrition facts.  Hee hee! 

But anyways, tonight I was looking for a way to fit in some spinach and I thought it would work well in a garlic alfredo type sauce and I am pretty sure that seafood and pasta with white sauce have been friends for a long time.  The great thing about spinach is that you can't taste it when it's cooked, so it's like sneaking in veggies (except you can still see them of course).  Oh and I probably would have used linguine or penne, but I only had this vegetable radiatore laying around, so the presentation wasn't as lovely.  But hey, it tasted good, and that's what matters most.  Sorry, no procedure pictures tonight.  I was in a rush and my hands were pretty goey from handling the prawns and trying to de-shell them.  So here's what I did.

Spinach Alfredo Pasta with Garlic Prawns
(I winged it, I'm sure you can find a recipe for it somewhere on the internet)

Ingredients

Sauce
1/2 c half and half
1c milk
1c chopped spinach
1/2c shredded parmigiano reggiano
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
2tbsp butter
3tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste.

Prawns
1lb Prawns
1tbsp butter
2 cloves of garlic (or 1tsp garlic powder)
salt and pepper to taste


Sauce Method
1.  Saute the garlic and butter on medium-low in a saucepan.  Once the garlic has softened as is fragrant add all the chopped spinach.

2.  Mix together the flour and half and half until there are no more lumps.  It's better to add the liquid into the flour slowly so you can prevent clumping.

3.  When the spinach is wilted and some of the liquid (if any) from the spinach has cooked off add the half and half mixture and the milk.  Increase the temperature to medium.

4.  Continue stirring until it has thickened slightly and then add in the parmigiano reggiano.  Stir until everything is combined and the sauce is thick.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Prawn Method
1.  Heat a saute pan to medium heat and add your prawns.

2.  When the prawns are almost completely pink add the butter and garlic and continue sauteeing until the prawns are fully cooked.

3.  Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the prawns with the pasta and sauce. 

See?  Easy right? 

Enjoy!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Dear God,

   please bless the efforts of 40 days for life and help everyone in this country realize the beauty of the gift of life and the horror of abortion.  Amen.