Last weekend we had the best mussels at a local restaurant after sunning at the beach.  It inspired me to look through our recipe books for this week’s recipe and I found this easy recipe from a great book called At my French Table by Jane Webster.

This book is a real inspiration.  Jane, her husband and their four children sold their house in Melbourne and moved to a neglected chateau in Normandy.  It is the story of the restoration of the chateau, creating a cooking school, and the family being immersed into the French culture and village life.

Mussels with chilli, ginger and garlic

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as an entrée

Ingredients:

olive oil, for cooking 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cm piece ginger, finely chopped
1 fresh small red chilli, chopped
1 cup dry white wine
1 kg mussels, scrubbed and cleaned
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Crusty bread and/or French fries to serve

Method:

Heat a heavy-based saucepan over low heat for 1-2 minutes. Brush base lightly with olive oil. Gently cook garlic, ginger and chilli for 1 minute. Add wine and 1 cup water, then increase heat to medium and bring to the boil.

Add mussels and spring onions. Cook covered for 3-5 minutes or until mussels open. Discard any unopened mussels.

Sprinkle mussels with parsley. Serve with French fries and bread to mop up the lovely sauce.

[Image by Nikole Ramsay from At my French Table.]