Mussels with garlic white wine broth

***RECIPE, MAKES ONE BIG PORTION, MULTIPLY AS NEEDED***

1 lb (454g) live mussels
1 cup white wine (237 mL)
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 small shallot
1 lemon (one is enough for a few portions)
1-2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
red chili flakes
fresh herbs (I like fennel fronds)
salt
pepper

Pull any beards off of the mussels and wash them clean. Peel and chop the garlic, thinly slice or chop the shallot, pick and chop the herbs.

Melt the butter in a pot on moderate heat (I don't like to let the butter brown), dump in the garlic and shallot and cook them for a minute. Put in the wine and bring it to a boil. Grate in some of the lemon zest. Put in as many chili flakes as you want and grind in some pepper. Pour in the oil.

Dump the mussels in the pot, stir them around, cover and let them steam for a couple minutes before you start checking on them. Cook until the mussels open up, and stop before the meats appear to shrink — maybe 5 minutes, total. While you're waiting you can cut the lemon into wedges for the table.

Use a slotted spoon to fish the mussels out to a serving bowl. If you see any that didn't open, either toss those, or hold them over somewhere that's not the pot or bowl and pry them open — if they look and smell good inside, they're probably fine.

Taste the broth and consider adding salt and maybe a little lemon juice. Stir in the fresh herbs at the last second and pour the broth over the mussels. To eat them, I like to pull off the top shell (the one that isn't connected to the meat) and discard; take the shell with the meat and dip it into the broth to fill it up; slurp; repeat.

[bobbobson]

I'm so proud of Adam for resisting the urge to title this video "White Wine with Garlic Broth and Mussels"

[stibbitystabbity]

he finally put white wine in the title of a recipe too, it’s gotten too powerful

[adventure_hannah]

"The mussels are not screaming, they do not have brains" is going on my next gym shirt to motivate myself to keep pushing (yes I know mussels / muscles)

[yoyo]

Adam’s gotten so good at sponsorship segues, he’s transitioning back to his recipes

Edit: Thanks so much for all of the likes 😁

[romaingapany]

Or as we call it in french, Moules à la Marinière, very traditionnal with french Fries. You could also go the "poulette" way and add cream and am egg yoll for thickening the sauce (with lemon, mariniere is usually only shallots or mirepoix with white wine, cider also works great). The best ones we got in Europe in my opinion come from the bay of Mont Saint Michel in Bretagne, I think many would agree

[alvinsaat]

Would love to see you make a video on visiting a mussels farm. The way they harvest and producd them always fascinated me, doubly so because of how efficient and sustainable the mussels themselves are

[nm]

I honestly love these vids so much. Literally this man makes cooking so easy and fun

[jakedesnake]

I love mussels! They were one of staples in college since they are so cheap where I live (Eastern Canada). My favourite way to cook them is steamed in a brown ale with honey, onion, and grainy mustard

[gostavoadolfos]

Fun story, I went camping with my friend at Porto Rico beach (Morocco and not the island) and he said don't buy food because we will eat what we fish there only to catch nothing and starved at the dawn I saw a colony of big mussels and cooked it quickly with butter and garlic and it was one of the most delicious dishes we ever had.

[Reilly_P]

Hey Adam, the denaturing of the proteins via heating is NOT what opens the shell. The shell of bivalves are held closed by muscles (some like scallops only have 1). This means that the shell can only stay closed when that muscle is contracting. When you boil the mussel alive, the impulses from its ganglion (nerve center/brain) cease and the muscle relaxes.

Yes, muscles are made of protein but "denaturing protein" has nothing to do with why the muscles of a mussel release so you can eat some mussel muscle after you boil them alive.

[alejandroalessandro]

Wow thanks: I was brought up on steamed mussels using one shell-pair as a set of mini tongs. LOVE the broth-scoop-shell idea!

[bossunsenpie]

Been eating mussels since i was a kid. One of my favorite food to eat with a lot of friends. Will definitely try the non-white wine version of this recipe.

[Courier]

I love mussels. Used to have them all the time until red tide became the norm at least where I am. My grandma would just cook up some garlic, onions, and fresh tomatoes before adding some water or stock to make a quick soup. Then she would just add the mussels last minute and she serves them with rice. Looking back, I think I devoured at least 30 individual mussels each time. They were that good

[dccaveman]

Cool video I'm from PEI, we always look at the muscles while we are washing them and if they are open just tap them around abit and let the cold water run into the shell, if they don't close they are dead chuck em out. Also you can use one of the upper shells to slide under the muscle (loosening the small scallop looking thing) so you don't waste any bits.

[fivefoottwelve]

Out of all the videos I've watched on this channel, this is one of the only times I've seen Adam make a face like that when he tastes it. Definitely going to have to try this one eventually.

[privatjetconnaisseur]

when i eat them, i use the shells (connected) of my first muscle as tongs to get them out. serve with (garlic-)buttered bread and a cup of the broth as a warm drink.
cucumber salad also works fine, fresh, not too soggy, so you pick a slice of cucumber and a muscle, with a bite from the bread that you dipped into broth before. thats TRULY heaven

[argledotorg]

Thanks for mentioning the dairy free option. Dairy allergies are a massive problem for those who have to deal with them, and while we are used to adjusting recipes it's nice to have adjustments up front

[MauricioSetz]

This reminds me a lot of moules-frites, i remember going with my grandpa to a city of France that has access to the sea (Montpellier) and eating that plate, it was delicious, the mix between mussels's broth and a stock that tasted only of onion and white wine was great, and the side of french fries only made it better (now that i make it at home i came to the conclusion that adding a starchy companion to this plate makes it better) now that im in Chile i can make this dish weekly thanks to the fact that we have lots of mussles and even the cheapest white wine is a decent one here.

[TommyWalker]

In my home region of Zeeland in the Netherlands mussels are cultivated on a large scale. Lots of it for export (to Belgium in particular) but I eat them since I’m probably 7 or so. It took me a long time to realize though that it is a very versatile food that you can make in 100 different ways, depending on the local produce in the country. For me though, the “real “ way of preparing them is with onion, carrot, celery and white wine or beer, fresh whole wheat bread on the side and some vinegar as “dip”. Oh and we would use 1 kg, 2 lbs per person. 1 lbs is a child’s portion 😄

[DanielNT]

I would agree its one of the best dishes period. Also, it works well to add some breadcrumbs to give bit of a body the broth. Also worth pointing out that the mussels are better when in season which is before they begin spawning in spring and summer