Epicure Recipe Cards #26 & #25: Thai Mussels with Sweet Potato, Tuscan Tomato Salad with Marinated Goat’s Cheese

It’s been a couple of months since any of these recipe cards have been posted, or cooked for that matter. I’m pretty certain that I won’t be getting through them all prior to the end of the year especially when I’m becoming increasingly left with recipes which fail to ignite much cooking passion. Or perhaps I’m just lacking cooking passion at the moment, full stop. Such a situation calls for creative interpretations and very, very loose adaptations of recipes.

I like mussels but I don’t like sweet potato. Mussels require multiple rounds of soaking in heavily salted water and draining to remove grit, but it’s more time-consuming rather than being a labour-intensive exercise. Sweet potato I will eat in small amounts, usually as crisp kumara chips, roasted or deep-fried in tempura batter. I don’t enjoy it mashed and I can‘t envisage the taste sensation of cubes of it cooked with mussels. So I decided to do away with the sweet potato and cooked the mussels with garlic, chilli and onion instead, with some crusty bread rolls on the side to soak up the briny shellfish juices. Being a fresh seafood dish, this is one of those things which is more a rough sketch rather than a strict recipe as the amount of seasoning and heat is completely up to the person cooking it. Don’t like/can’t handle chilli? Leave it out. Have some fresh herbs on hand? Throw them in if you think the flavour works.

The fruit and vegetable stalls near where I bought the mussels all had punnets of yellow cherry tomatoes going for cheap at the time. A punnet came home with me, the cherry tomatoes within halved and then mixed with a chopped Roma tomato and olives as a side salad to the mussels. The goat’s cheese was deliberately omitted as I didn’t think it’d be a good companion to the mussels but I particularly liked the vibrant colours as well as the saltiness of the olives echoing the saltiness of the seafood.

This meal was enjoyed a couple of months ago when the weather was cooler, but would be perfect for the weather now which is finally starting to show some signs of summer. It’s easy to prepare and most suited for casual picking at over a drink or two and, preferably, some conversation and laughter.

Garlic & Chilli Mussels (serves 2)

(adapted from The Age – Epicure 50 Best Recipe Cards, recipe by Jill Dupleix)

Ingredients:

·         1kg black mussels

·         1 tbs oil

·         2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

·         1 small red chilli, finely sliced (deseeded to reduce the heat, if preferred)

·         ½ small onion, thinly sliced

·         ½ cup dry white wine or water

Method:

1. Soak mussels in liberally salted water for 1-2 hours, changing the water when it gets cloudy. Scrub mussels to remove any barnacles and pull out the beards.
2. In a large pot with a lid, heat oil over medium heat with garlic, chilli and onion until fragrant. Tip in mussels along with the wine, cover with the lid and let steam for 1-2 minutes.
3. Remove lid, stir mussels around before replacing lid and steaming a further 1-2 minutes.
4. Remove lid, season with salt to taste and stir to mix well. Opened mussels should be removed to a serving bowl and the lid replaced to further steam the remaining for another minute.
5. Remove lid and add any opened mussels to the serving bowl. Discard any which remain closed. Serve with crusty bread if desired.

Tomato & Olive Salad (serves 2 as a side)

(adapted from The Age – Epicure 50 Best Recipe Cards, recipe by Jill Dupleix)

Ingredients:

·         ·         250g punnet of cherry/grape tomatoes

·         ·         1 Roma tomato, chopped

·         ·         small handful of pitted Kalamata olives, chopped

·         ·         1-2 splashes balsamic vinegar

·         ·         drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Mix everything together with some ground salt and pepper to taste. Toss well and set aside for 20 minutes before serving to allow flavours to develop.

happy cooking!