Moules Dijonnaise

Only a day after a writing a blog post on the survival of printed cookbooks I am posting about a recipe I found online. Does this mean I’ve suddenly abandoned cookbooks? No way. It only means that Serious Eats has done it again. I probably cook recipes from their website more than any other, though most of what they post is from an actual cookbook. This time, the recipe that struck me as delicious was Moules Dijonnaise.

The author of the post is Kerry Saretsky, who writes Serious Eats’ “French in a Flash” column, which I’ve gone to a few times, and wrote French Revolution Food, a cookbook on reinvented French Classics. Kerry has not steered me wrong, so I was confident that a moules with dijon mustard would be great too. This particular recipe calls for two different types of mustard: dijon and whole grain mustard. Now trust me on this, you need both types of mustard. If you love mustard like I do, the extra jar (if you need to go buy it) wont go to waste.

While this dish doesn’t include any recipes for frites, it of course would go great with some tongue burning fried potatoes. I went with a small baguette instead, to sop up all the delicious broth left behind. This recipe makes enough for 2 as a main course or 3 or 4 as an appetizer. I didn’t make any changes in this recipe except using light cream instead of heavy cream and adding a tad more dijon mustard to make up for it.

Ingredients:
Recipe Courtesy of Serious Eats Secret Ingredient column
Services 2 as main, 4 as appetizer

4 pounds mussels
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, diced
1 skinny leek, finely sliced in halfmoons (or part of a large one)
Kosher salt
fresh black pepper
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvingnon Blanc
4-6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
1 cup heavy cream

In a large bowl, ass mussels and sprinkle with flour. Cover with cold water and let soak while you prepare vegetables. This will force the mussels to disgorge any sand they might be saving up in their bellies. Drain and rinse the mussels. Throw out any that are open.

In a large, wide braising pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the shallots and leek, and season with salt and pepper. Sauté, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft and fragrant, but not golden: about 3 minutes. Lower the heat, and add the garlic, stirring it around with the other vegetables for about 45 seconds. Then add the wine, and the thyme, and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Cover the pot, keep it over low heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the mussels, and raise the heat to medium-high. Keep the pot covered. The mussels are cooked when they’ve all opened. It takes about 5 minutes. Toss any that don’t open.

Turn off the heat, and stir in the mustards and the cream, until well combined into the broth. Taste the broth for seasoning, and adjust as needed. Serve immediately with a crusty baguette. Enjoy!!