Poached Mussels For Two Recipes

POACHED MUSSELS FOR TWO

Steps:

• Scrub mussels with a brush under cool running water, and remove beards. Discard any opened or cracked mussels. They are dead.
• Bring broth and red wine vinegar to a boil in a large pan with a lid. Add mussels and reduce heat. Simmer 8-10 minutes or until shells open, shaking the pan occasionally. Transfer mussels to a dish.
• Add the remaining ingredients, except butter, to the broth in the pan. Cook over high heat until the until the liquid is reduced by about half.
• Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until melted. Pour sauce over mussels.

SEARED CHILEAN SEA BASS WITH CITRUS POACHED MUSSELS, CHAYOTE SQUASH, AVOCADO CILANTRO SALAD, AND BLUE CRAB ESSENCE

Steps:

• Mussels: Toast orange peels in a large, dry skillet or saucepan (with a lid that fits) until fragrant. Add olive oil and then onions, and saute over high heat for 30 seconds. Add mussels and stir them around a little. Add wine and cover with the lid; cook until mussels have opened, approximately 3 minutes. Strain and reserve liquid. Remove mussels from shells, reserve mussels, and discard shells.
• Citrus Emulsion: Combine orange juice and reserved mussel liquid in a small saucepan. Reduce liquid over medium-high heat until it takes on the consistency of a syrup. While still hot, add butter, 1 piece at a time, stirring constantly. Keep warm.
• Blue Crab Essence: Carefully drop crabs into a pot of rapidly boiling water for 4 minutes. Prepare an ice water bath. Drain crabs and immediately plunge them into the ice bath to halt the cooking. Pull all of the meat out of the claws and set aside. Crack crabs in half, discard anything that looks funky, rinse them, and reserve the shells.
• Bring fish fumet (or water) to a simmer in a saucepan. Add crab shells and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain liquid through a fine chinois into another saucepan, discarding crab shells. To the liquid, add cream and butter. Keep warm.
• Avocado Salad: Toss all ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Bring to room temperature before serving.
• Chayote Squash: Heat butter in a skillet over high heat. Add squash and cilantro and saute until tender. Keep warm until ready to serve.
• Chilean Sea Bass: Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over high heat. When pan is very hot, add fish and sear on each side until fully cooked through in the middle. Cooking time will vary based on the thickness of your fillets, but it should not take more than a couple minutes on each side. You may have to sear the fish in 2 batches so as not to over-crowd the pan.
• While fish is cooking, reheat mussels in the Citrus Emulsion and reheat the crabmeat in butter.
• To serve, spoon the Citrus Emulsion onto the middle of the plate, in a circle and spoon chayote on top. Arrange fish on top of chayote, and top fish with the Avocado Salad. Garnish with 4 mussels tightly around the chayote. With an immersion blender, froth the Blue Crab Essence. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the essence around the plate, and place the crabmeat next to the froth.

MUSSELS WITH RED WINE AND ROASTED GARLIC

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. On parchment-lined foil, drizzle garlic with oil; tightly seal. Bake until tender, about 1 hour. Once cool, remove cloves from papery skin and set aside.
• In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat; add thyme and roasted garlic cloves. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, then add wine and season with salt. Bring to a boil, add mussels, and reduce heat to medium. Cook, covered and undisturbed, until shells have opened, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Stir mussels and, with a slotted spoon, transfer to a warm serving bowl. (Discard unopened shells.) Return broth to a boil and reduce by half. Whisk in remaining 3 tablespoons butter and parsley. Ladle sauce over mussels and serve immediately.