Mussels & Chorizo AKA MOULES A LA PORTUGAISE

I was reviewing the recipes I have posted and I was surprised to see that most of the recipes involve chicken. People who don’t know me, I thought, may think that I love chicken. Although there is nothing wrong with it, I’m just not a big fan of chicken. In my opinion, it is too bland. On the other hand, it is easy to make and thus, I find myself eating a lot of chicken. I’ll try to post less chicken recipes, I promise.

Last week was beautiful. The sun was shining, crisp air was flowing, and there were no signs, at least for two or three days, of winter. And do you know what I crave the most during spring and summer? Seafood. I looked in my fridge and found chorizo and a bottle of white wine, among other uninteresting items. I knew exactly what I wanted to make: mussels & choizo (AKA moules a la portugaise). All I needed was mussels. Although it is hard to find fresh seafood in Central Pennsylvania, we just found a place that has really fresh seafood, including oysters, and have been going there quite often ( http://www.ilovecrabs.com ).

I found this recipe in Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook, which I highly recommend – but note that I may be biased because I think he is the best looking chef in history, a talented and entertaining writer, and I love his show in the Travel channel. This is the only recipe I have made from this book because sometimes I tend to be lazy and the rest of the recipes looked too long. But, I am trying to explore more difficult recipes and that is why I started this blog. I digress (badly). Back to the recipe: it is very easy to make. Very easy. And it is ready in about 20 min. If you don’t like mussels, would you please give them a second try? I know, you’ll tell me that they have an awful consistency. Yes, they have a rubbery consistency but, other edible goods do too and I bet you like them (i.e. gum!).  I know that next you’ll tell me that they taste very fishy. I tend to disagree with that statement, they don’t taste fishy, they taste oceany (yes, I just made up a word, and I like it). Just try them. If you don’t like them, give me a call and I’ll eat them.

MOULES A LA PORTUGAISE adapted from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking

Serves 4

Note: Make sure you get Spanish chorizo and not Mexican. Both are very good but very different.

Ingredients

·         Olive oil

·         ½ white onion thinly sliced

·         3 garlic cloves

·         0.5 oz. Spanish chorizo sausage

·         1 cup white wine

·         3 pounds mussels (scrubbed and debearded)

·         Baguette

1.  In a large pot, heat the oil, add the onion and cook until soft.

2.  Add the garlic and chorizo and cook for another 4 min.

3.  Stir in the wine.

4.  Add the mussels and cook with the lid on until all the mussels are open (approximately 8 min.)

5.  Serve on a big bowl (all juices include) and accompany with a baguette.