Steamed Mussels With Saffron And Tomato Food

MUSSELS WITH TOMATOES, BASIL & SAFFRON

Steps:

• 1. Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until garlic is golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add tomatoes to pot and cook until almost dry, about 3 minutes. Peel 2 long strips of zest from orange (without white pith) and add to pot. Squeeze in orange's juice and stir in vermouth and saffron. Increase heat to high and bring mixture to a rapid boil.
• 2. Add mussels to pot, cover, and cook, shaking pot once or twice, until mussels begin to open, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in basil and cook until all mussels open, about 2 more minutes. Divide mussels and broth among warm bowls (discard any unopened shells) and serve immediately.

STEAMED MUSSELS WITH SAFFRON AND TOMATO

Steps:

• Rinse the mussels under cold running water while scrubbing with a vegetable brush. Remove the stringy mussel beards with your thumb and index finger as you wash them. Discard any mussels with broken shells. Heat a 2-count drizzle of oil in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, tomato, and bay leaves until the vegetables cook down to a pulp, about 5 minutes. Stir in the "saffron tea," red pepper flakes, and curry. Add the mussels and give everything a good toss. Add the vermouth, lemon juice, and chicken stock; cover the pot and steam over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, until the mussels open. Stir occasionally so that all the mussels are in contact with the heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the mussels to a warm serving bowl and cover. Pick out the bay leaves. If some of the pieces of vegetables are nestled in the shells, don't sweat it. The sauce itself is a snap. Add the butter to the pot of mussel broth and buzz it down with a handheld blender (you can also transfer it to a regular blender or food processor). What you want is a smooth, yellow sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the mussels and shower with parsley before serving. Impressive and uncomplicated.

STEAMED MUSSELS WITH TOMATOES, GARLIC, AND OUZO

Steps:

• In a large pot on high heat saute the onion in the olive oil until tender but not brown. Add the garlic. Continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, mussels, and parsley. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until all of the mussels open. Discard the unopened ones and with a large spoon stir the mussels around. Add the ouzo and taste sauce for seasoning.

GREEN-LIP MUSSELS, COOKED WITH SAFFRON AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Note: This dish really is a hands-on one. There's no way getting around using your fingers to eat this, unless you can really be bothered to take the mussels out of their shells for your guests. If you can't get your hands on fresh whole Green-lip mussels, you may be able to find some that have been prepped already, whereby they come in the half shell, already partly cooked. If this is the case, make the recipe as follows, but don't add the mussels. Cook the tomato broth for 4 minutes, before adding them and cooking a further 2 minutes.
• Place the mussels in a large pot with a tight fitting lid and add the next 6 ingredients. Mix well, then pour on the wine and oil. Place over a high heat, bring to the boil and cook for 3 minutes. Take the lid off the pot and give the mussels a stir, put the lid back on and cook a further 2 minutes. They're cooked when they all open, however you occasionally get some that are stubborn and refuse to play ball, so when you serve them discard these.
• I like to scoop out the mussels into a large ceramic bowl and leave it covered and warm while I serve my guests the broth as a first course in flat soup bowls. Then I bring the mussels to the table and serve them with a huge spoon into the soup bowls, then use the ceramic bowl for the discarded shells. I serve the mussels with lots of fresh crusty bread.

STEAMED MUSSELS IN SAFFRON BROTH

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy, three-quart saucepan. Add the onion, fennel and garlic, cover and sweat over low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the saffron, tomato puree, wine, stock, thyme and bay leaves. Simmer uncovered for one hour. Strain.
• Just before serving, reheat the tomato mixture to a simmer. Add the mussels, cover and steam until the mussels open, about 10 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon, divide the mussels among four soup plates. Season the broth to taste with pepper flakes and pour over the mussels. Serve at once with saffron-aioli toasts.

STEAMED MUSSELS OR CLAMS WITH SAFFRON, TOMATOES AND PANCETTA

Steps:

• In a pot large enough to hold the clams, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and pancetta. When they begin to sizzle, add the vinegar, wine and saffron. Remove from the heat and let stand until the saffron begins to release its color. Add the tomatoes, pepper, parsley and clams. Cover with a lid and cook over high heat, shaking the pot occasionally, until the clams open. Divide the clams among 4 bowls and serve immediately.

STEAMED MUSSELS II

Steps:

• In a medium stock pot, heat butter over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until translucent.
• Pour in wine and mussels. Raise heat to medium/high and steam mussels until shells open, about 5 minutes.
• Pour mussels and cooking liquid into a serving bowl, sprinkle with parsley and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

MUSSELS IN SAFFRON AND WHITE WINE BROTH

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large pot, then add the garlic. Sauté until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the wine, half and half, and saffron; simmer for 5 minutes. Add the clam juice, scallions, tomato, and lemon juice, scallions, tomato, and lemon juice; simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the mussels, cover, and stream until they are open, about 5-7 minutes. Shake the pot, holding down the lid with a kitchen towel, to redistribute the mussels. Discard any mussels that do not open. Divide the mussels into eight bowls; distribute the broth equally among the bowls, and top each with fresh chives.

STEAMED MUSSELS WITH WINE AND SAFFRON

Steps:

• Holding mussels under cool running water, scrub with a stiff sponge or vegetable brush, then debeard: grip the tough fibers extending from the shell and pull to remove. Discard beards.
• Steep saffron in wine for 10 minutes. (Saffron is soluble in water, not fat, so it won't release its color or flavor if added directly to the butter.) Meanwhile, melt butter over medium-high heat in a shallow stockpot. Once it's foamy, add shallots, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook until shallots are transparent and garlic is soft, about 3 minutes, stirring every so often to keep garlic from scorching. Pour in wine and saffron, then add tomatoes and return to a simmer, stirring once or twice.
• Add mussels and cover tightly. Cook until all mussels open, about 6 minutes, stirring once about halfway through. Discard any unopened mussels. If using wild mussels, strain broth through a cheesecloth-lined sieve to remove any sand, if necessary. Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper.
• Sprinkle with parsley before ladling mussels and broth into bowls.

MUSSELS WITH SAFFRON AND TOMATO

Steps:

• Put the mussels in a large bowl full of water with a large handful of ice and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Allow to mussels to sit in the liquid for 1 hour to disgorge any sand. Lift mussels out of bowl, leaving flour and sand behind. Scrub and debeard mussels. Discard any which are open and do not close when thumped on the counter.
• In a wide braising pan with high sides, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté, stirring often, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the stock (or wine or water, as you choose) and the saffron. Add mussels and tomatoes to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pot, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook until all the mussels are wide open, 5 to 7 minutes. Discard any which fail to open.
• Take the pot off the heat, and stir in the cream. Serve.