SEAFOOD

 

SERVES 2 AS A STARTER
 

We don't want to put you off, but this is probably a bit fiddly, although it requires very little skill, and the results are spectacular. It helps if the mussels are large.

INGREDIENTS


1 LB (450 g) Mussels
2 Medium Tomatoes Skinned de-seeded and diced
2 oz (60g) Celery Finely Diced
2 oz (60g) Unsalted Butter
Juice of 1/2 a Lemon
4 Tablespoons (56 ml) Dry White Wine
A Good Pinch of Saffron Strands
 

PREPARATION
Wash the mussels in plenty of cold water, scrape off any barnacles and pull off the 'beards'. Discard any mussels which are open and refuse to close when rapped with the edge of your knife.

Skin the tomatoes. Put them in a bowl or a measuring jug and cover them with boiling water. Leave for about 30 SECONDS. Don't leave it too long, or the tomatoes will begin to cook, and we don't want that to happen. Take them out of the hot water, nick the skin with the point of a knife, and the skin should peel off easily.
Stand the tomato on the stalk end and cut into quarters, then cut out the seeds. Cut the quarters in half lenthways and then dice.

Cook the diced Celery in a little water for about a minute, no more as we want it to still be crunchy. Take it off the heat and leave to one side whilst you cook the Mussels.

Put the wine in the pan and bring to the boil. Add the mussels and cover the pan with a Lid. When all the mussels are open, they are cooked. Discard any mussels which do not open.

Strain off the mussel liquor into a clean pan, add the Saffron strands, and reduce it over a high heat by about one third.

Take the Butter out of the fridge and cut it into 1/2 inch cubes. Whisk the butter into the boiling mussel liquor a piece at a time, waiting until one piece has been amalgamated before adding the next. We use an electric whisk, but you could use a hand whisk if you prefer.

When all the butter has been used, add the lemon juice. Take the sauce off the heat and leave to one side whilst you sort out the mussels.

Take off the top shell of each mussel, leaving the mussel in the other half of the shell. Arrange the mussels on a warmed serving dish and with a teaspoon, put a little of the celery and tomato on the top of each Mussel. Give the sauce a final whisk and spoon a little onto each Mussel.

As we said at the beginning, all a little bit fiddly, but well worth doing.