Thanks to Eddie. I went with a variation on his earlier suggestion.

Mussels steamed in Belgian beer and aromatics, served with sourdough bread and lemon

In this case, the aromatics consisted of 1 shallot, finely chopped; a handful of chopped parsley and a small handful of chopped celery leaves. People usually think of celery leaves as fit for the compost bin. That’s such a waste. They’re great used in a soffritto or in a mirepoix, or when you want a gentle herbaceous flavor in a sauce. Celery leaves have a light, clean, fresh taste that makes them a perfect garnish in pureed soups, in green salads, or with fish. Best of all, if you hate cilantro, they’re a pretty good substitute.

Place cleaned/debearded mussels in a pot. Add aromatics and 1 cup beer. Cover and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat a notch or two. Let mussels steam in their own juices until cooked, about 2 to 3 minutes. When done, discard any that do not open. Serve with a crusty loaf of bread and a slice of lemon.

15 May This entry was published on May 15, 2009 at 12:07 am. It’s filed under food, general and tagged beer, celery, cooking, dinner, herbs, mussels, recipe, seafood. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.