Steamed Mussels With Fennel And Tarragon Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garlic and fennel; cook until just soft and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add the carrots and season with salt and pepper; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are just soft, about 4 minutes. Add the vermouth and boil to reduce slightly. Add the tomatoes and tarragon, then cover the pot and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup water and the mussels. Raise the heat to high, cover and cook until the mussels open, 3 to 5 minutes. (Check halfway through and transfer any open mussels to a serving bowl.) Transfer all the mussels to a serving bowl, discarding any that do not open. Season the sauce with pepper and, if needed, salt, and pour over the mussels. Serve with the bread.
• Photograph By Antonis Achilleos

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over high heat on the grates of the grill. Stir in shallots and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in fennel and tomato, and continue cooking about 5 minutes. Add white wine and ouzo and reduce by half. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Stir in mussels, 1/2 the basil and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and cook until the mussels are open, discarding any that do not. Stir in the remaining basil and serve in large bowls with grilled bread.

Steps:

• Heat a 3 1/2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and heat another 30 seconds. To the hot pan, add the shallots and fennel. Sweat, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until fragrant and beginning to soften, 2 minutes. Add the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook another 2 minutes. Add the mussels and stir gently once or twice in order to coat in the oil. Add the beer and stir one more time. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook until the mussels have opened, about 4 minutes, stirring halfway through. Discard any unopened mussels. Stir in the butter and tarragon and season with 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Serve with slices of crusty bread to dip in the sauce.

Steps:

• Rinse the mussels under cold running water while scrubbing with a vegetable brush. Discard any with broken shells. Heat oil in a 6 to 8-quart stockpot. Saute the shallot, garlic and thyme to create a base flavor. Add the mussels and give them a good toss. Add wine, lemon juice, chicken broth and red pepper flakes; cover the pot and steam over medium-high for 5 minutes until the mussels open. Toss in the tomato, parsley and butter, recover the pot, and steam for another minute to soften. The tomatoes should keep their shape. Serve with plenty of grilled garlic bread to sop up the broth.

Steps:

• Heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and chorizo and saute for about 2 minutes. Then the celery, garlic, tomatoes, fennel and onions, and saute until tender but not too soft, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Add the mussels, and saute again until the mussels start to pop open. Add the clam juice and wine and cover the skillet. Steam the mussels until they open, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove any mussels that didn't open, and transfer the rest from the skillet to a serving bowl(s), leaving the liquid behind. Add the butter and simmer until the liquid reduces a bit, about 2 minutes.
• Pour the liquid over the mussels and serve with a delightful crusty bread.

Steps:

• Heat grill to high. Sprinkle garlic with a pinch of salt and, with the flat side of a large knife, mash and smear the garlic to a coarse paste. Heat the oil in a stockpot on the grates of the grill, add the shallots and garlic and cook until shallots soften. Add the wine, bring to a boil and stir in the mussels. Cover the pot and cook the mussels until all of them have opened, about 6 to 8 minutes, discard any that do not open.
• Remove the mussels with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer and whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and stir in the tarragon. Pour the mixture over the mussels and serve immediately with grilled bread.
• Brush cut side of baguette with oil, season with salt and pepper and grill, cut side down until lightly golden brown.

Steps:

• Place the oil in a large pot and turn the heat to medium; 1 minute later, add the garlic, fennel, fennel seeds, liqueur, and tomatoes and tarragon if you're using them. Bring to a boil, cook for about 1 minute. Add the mussels, cover the pot, and turn the heat to high.
• Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the mussels open, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the mussels and fennel to a serving bowl, then strain any liquid over them and serve.

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large pan with a tight-fitting lid. Add the chopped carrot, onion, and celery, and cook over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
• Meanwhile, clean the mussels by rinsing them under the cold tap. Make sure all the shells are tightly closed and discard any that don't shut when tapped. Add the mussels to the pan with the white wine, cover, and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and let the mussels steam away for 5-10 minutes, or until they've all opened. Discard any mussels that have remained closed.
• Stir through the cream, tarragon, lemon juice and add a couple of grinds of black pepper. Heat the mussels and sauce through and serve along with some crusty bread.

Steps:

• Put the oil in a large pot over medium heat; a minute later, add the garlic, fennel, fennel seeds, liqueur, and tomatoes and tarragon if you're using them. Bring to a boil, cook for about a minute, add the mussels, cover the pot, and turn the heat to high.
• Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the mussels open, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the mussels and fennel to a serving bowl, then strain any liquid over them and serve.
• Variations
• There are many, many herbs, spices, vegetables, and other seasonings that can lend a licorice flavor, including anise seeds or ground anise; five-spice powder; ouzo or raki, the anise-scented liqueurs of the eastern Mediterranean; and tarragon, chervil, even basil-especially Thai basil. (You could probably throw in a few pieces of Good&Plenty while you're at it.)
• Or you can go super-minimal and make plain steamed mussels. The procedure is the same, but omit all ingredients except mussels, oil, and garlic. Shake the pot a couple of times while cooking. These are great with a little melted butter (laced with minced garlic if you like) drizzled over them and a big loaf of crusty bread.
• Mussels
• Every year, we see more and more cultivated mussels, most often from Prince Edward Island, which is fast becoming the mussel farming capital of North America. These are easy to clean (almost clean enough to eat without washing, but still worth a quick going over), with very few rejects and plump meat. Wild mussels are far tastier but harder to clean.
• When cleaning mussels, discard any with broken shells. If the mussels have beards-the hairy vegetative growth that is attached to the shell-trim them off. Those mussels that remain closed after the majority have been steamed open can be pried open with a knife (a butter knife works fine) at the table.

Steps:

• With a vegetable peeler remove three 3-by-1/2-inch strips orange zest. Cut remaining peel and pith from orange with a sharp knife and discard. Cut out fruit sections from between membranes, discarding membranes, and finely chop enough fruit to measure 1/3 cup, reserving remaining fruit for another use.
• In a large saucepan cook garlic paste, shallots, chopped fennel, and fennel seeds in butter over moderate heat, stirring, until chopped fennel is softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in wine and zest and boil 1 minute. Add broth and return to a boil. Add mussels and cook, covered with a tight-fitting lid, over high heat, checking them every minute, 3 to 8 minutes, transferring them as they open with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl. (Discard any mussels that are unopened after 8 minutes.)
• Stir into broth chopped orange, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste and spoon over mussels.

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garlic and fennel; cook until just soft and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add the carrots and season with salt and pepper; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are just soft, about 4 minutes. Add the vermouth and boil to reduce slightly. Add the tomatoes and tarragon, then cover the pot and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup water and the mussels. Raise the heat to high, cover and cook until the mussels open, 3 to 5 minutes. (Check halfway through and transfer any open mussels to a serving bowl.) Transfer all the mussels to a serving bowl, discarding any that do not open. Season the sauce with pepper and, if needed, salt, and pour over the mussels. Serve with the bread. HOW TO CUT "BULB FENNELL" Stand the fennel bulb upright (stems pointing up. Cut down through the bulb, cutting it in half, along the stem line. In other words, you'll be cutting each stem in half as part of the cut. Now look at the inside of the bulb you've exposed. See that triangular thing starting at the bottom of the bulb and pointing upwards? That's the core, which is rock-hard. Cut it out of both halves of the bulb. Now lay each half cut-side-down, stems facing right (or left, and make thin slices. What is "thin"? Try for 1/16" thick, but realize that you can't cut it too thin, and anything 1/8" or thinner is plenty thin enough