Light Mussel Chowder – thanks Neptune !

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When I was about sixteen, I was in a restaurant with my parents, politely doing battle with a bowl of mussels - and losing. A large party of foreign tourists (Dutch, I think) was just leaving, when one of the men stopped at our table. “Allow me,” he said, taking the fork from my surprised fingers. He replaced it with one of my discarded mussel shells, “This is a gift from Neptune,” he explained, and demonstrated that I should use it, tweezer-like, to tug the mussel from its shell. Much easier! Thank you, rather cheeky but kind stranger. It’s how I’ve tackled this shellfish ever after.

I love the briny flavour of mussels, so redolent of the seaside. They are at their best over the winter months and are usually relatively cheap as shellfish go. They are highly perishable so eat them as soon as you can after purchase, or within 24 hours.

I adore them a la Marinière with frites of course, and lots of French bread to mop up the precious juices. Lately though, this is how I’ve been cooking them:

For 4 servings redolent of the seaside you will need...

100mls dry cider (or dry white wine)

100mls water

1kg mussels, rinsed several times in cold water to remove excess grit and sand 

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of parsley stems, very finely chopped

1 stick of celery, peeled of stringy bits, and finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 fat clove of garlic, very finely chopped

2 medium potatoes, cut into 1cm dice

approximately 250mls chicken stock

a pinch of saffron* soaked in 2 tablespoons of hot water for at least 20 minutes

freshly ground pepper to taste

1 tablespoon corn flour dissolved in 1 tablespoon of cold water 

2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaf 

 

1                    First prepare the mussels: Discard any with broken shells and any open mussels that fail to close when rapped sharply. Mussels use a fibrous tangle of threads (or beard) to anchor themselves. Tug sharply on the beard in the direction of the hinge (the narrow part of the shell) to remove it. For this dish, I don’t bother removing any barnacles that cling to the shells as I’m going to discard them once the mussels are cooked.

2                    Pour the cider (or wine) and water into a large saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. When the liquid is boiling, tip in the mussels and cover with a lid. Boil rapidly, occasionally shaking the pan back and forth over the heat so that the fragrant steam cooks the mussels evenly. It will take 3 or 4 minutes for the mussels to cook. The shells will open when they are done.

3                    Remove from the heat and tip into a colander over a bowl to catch the juices. Remove the mussels from their shells (using ‘Neptune’s tweezers’) and set aside. Strain the juices into a 1 litre measuring jug to remove any bits of sand or grit (I usually get about 500mls of liquid from this quantity of mussels). Add enough chicken stock to make the liquid up to 750mls.

4                    Rinse the saucepan clean and place it back on the hob over a medium heat. Heat the olive oil then add the parsley stems, celery, and onion and cook without colouring until the onion is soft and translucent (about 5 – 7 minutes).

5                    Add the garlic and cook for a further minute before adding the potato. Pour in the mussel juices, strain the golden liquid from the saffron into the pan, and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for about 12 minutes or until you can easily crush a potato cube with the back of a fork. Stir in the corn flour and cook for a minute or so until the soup thickens slightly. (If you want a thicker chowder, lightly crush the potato cubes with a potato masher).

6                    Add the mussel meat and chopped parsley leaf to the chowder and allow to heat through for a minute or so. Taste and add a little black pepper. I don’t add salt. The chowder is usually salty enough from the mussels. Serve with this quick and easy fresh soda bread. 

Note: The saffron doesn’t make much difference to the flavour but improves the look of the dish no end, so put it in if you have it.

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