Mussels With Aquavit Cream And Tarragon Recipes

STEAMED MUSSELS WITH FENNEL, TOMATOES, OUZO, AND CREAM

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in shallots and garlic, and cook until tender. Stir in fennel and tomato, and continue cooking about 5 minutes.
• Mix white wine, ouzo, and heavy cream into the saucepan, and bring to a boil. Gradually stir in mussels, 1/2 the basil, and salt.
• Cover saucepan, and continue cooking about 5 minutes, until the mussels have opened. Garnish with remaining basil to serve.

MUSSELS WITH AQUAVIT, CREAM, AND TARRAGON

Steps:

• Throw out any mussels with cracked shells or that did not close when you scrubbed them.
• Heat the butter over medium heat in a pot just large enough to hold the mussels. Sauté the shallots and garlic for 4 to 5 minutes. Add half the tarragon, the thyme, vinegar, fennel seeds, aquavit, and mussels. Increase the heat to medium-high. Cover and let steam for 6 to 7 minutes, until the mussels have opened. With a slotted spoon, transfer the mussels to a large serving bowl; discard any that did not open.
• Add the cream to the cooking juices and cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, until slightly reduced. Season with salt and a little more minced garlic, if desired. Pour the cooking juices over the mussels, sprinkle with the rest of the tarragon, and serve.

STEAMED MUSSELS WITH WHITE WINE, TARRAGON, SHALLOTS, BUTTER, AND GRILLED FRENCH 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.

STEAMED MUSSELS IN TARRAGON DIJON EMULSION

Steps:

• Discard any mussels that have cracked or are damaged. Remove beards from mussels, and scrub each mussel under cold water. Rinse until water runs clear.
• Combine the wine, shallots, bay leaf, and thyme in a very large pot and bring to a slow simmer over medium heat.
• Add the mussels to pot, and turn heat up to high. When steam starts to escape from cover, reduce heat to medium. Shake pot to redistribute mussels, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until mussels have opened. Remove from heat, remove mussels from liquid and discard any unopened mussels.
• Pass the broth through a fine sieve into another saucepan. Reduce liquid on high heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and with a hand held blender add the olive oil, Dijon, and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper and spoon over mussels.

STEAMED MUSSELS WITH TARRAGON CREAM

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.

MUSSELS IN TARRAGON TOMATO BROTH

Steps:

• Chop onion and celery and saute in olive oil over medium heat.
• Mince garlic and add to celery and onions. Continue to cook until onions are clear, stirring to keep the garlic from burning.
• Deglaze the pan with with white wine. Simmer until the wine is reduced by half.
• Add chicken broth, tomatoes, and all herbs and spices. Bring to a boil, and allow to simmer for at least 15 minutes. Salt to taste.
• While the broth simmers, clean mussels well under cold water to remove any sand and grit.
• Add butter and allow it to melt.
• Over medium heat, add mussels to boiling broth. Cover for 2 - 3 minutes, until all mussels are opened.
• Serve with crusty bread.

MUSSELS WITH SHALLOTS AND TARRAGON

Steps:

• Scrub the mussels well in several changes of water, scrape off the beards, and rinse the mussels. In a 2-quart microwave-safe round glass casserole with a lid combine the wine, the shallots, the zest, the fennel seeds, and the tarragon and microwave the mixture, covered, at high power (100%) for 3 minutes. Stir in the mussels and microwave the mixture, covered, at high power, stirring once every minute and transferring any mussels that are wide open to a bowl and keeping them warm, for 2 1/2 to 4 minutes. Discard any unopened mussels. Return the mussels to the casserole, sprinkle them with the onion, and drizzle them with the oil. Let the mussels stand for 1 minute.