Read Online The Minimalist Cooks Dinner by Mark Bittman - Free Book Online
Authors: Mark Bittman
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¼ cup (½ stick) butter in a small saucepan. (If you like, add Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste, along with the juice of a lemon.) Serve the mussels with a small bowl of the butter. To eat, remove a mussel from its shell; dip into the butter, then rub up some of the dried juices from the bottom of the skillet.
| When the mussels begin to open, add 4 crushed garlic cloves to the pan, shaking the pan as above.
Fennel-Steamed
Mussels, Provence Style
TIME: 30 minutes
MAKES: 4 servings
In a café in southern France more than twenty years ago, I sat in a bistro and timidly prepared to order salade Niçoise. Just then, a huge bowl of steaming, powerfully fragrant mussels was delivered to a man sitting at the table next to me, and I impulsively changed my order. The hot mussels were essentially tossed with fennel and fennel seeds, which I could see, but the licorice bouquet and indeed flavor were far stronger than that combination alone could provide. Later, I realized that there was a secret ingredient: anise liqueur, either Pernod or Ricard. The combination is an alluring one.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 fennel bulb (about 1 pound), trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
½ cup Pernod or Ricard (or 4 pieces star anise)
1 cup chopped tomatoes (canned are fine; drain them first), optional
1 sprig tarragon, optional
At least 4 pounds large mussels, well washed
Pour the oil into a large pot, turn the heat to medium, and heat for a minute. Add the garlic, fennel, fennel seeds, liqueur, tomatoes, and tarragon, if you like. Bring to a boil, cook for about a minute, add the mussels, cover the pot, and turn the heat to high.
Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the mussels open, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the mussels and fennel to a serving bowl, then strain any liquid over them and serve.
WINE
White, crisp, and cold-Muscadet, an inexpensive Italian white, or a good Sauvignon Blanc
SERVE WITH
60-Minute Bread or good store-bought bread; Simple Green Salad
Keys To SUCCESS
FRESH FENNEL is an especially good addition because you can add it in large enough quantity so that it becomes an essential component of the dish, not only for flavor but as a vegetable to round things out.
EVERY YEAR , we see more and more cultivated mussels, most often from Prince Edward Island, which is fast becoming the mussel-farming capital of North America. These are easy to clean (almost clean enough to eat without washing, but still worth a quick going-over), with very few rejects and plump meat. Wild mussels are tastier, but harder to clean. For cleaning instructions.
With MINIMAL Effort
Anise-Steamed Mussels, Asian Style:
Combine the mussels in a cold pot with 1 cinnamon stick, 4 star anise, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons water. Cover and cook until mussels open, 5 to 10 minutes. Toss, if possible, with about ½ cup torn Thai basil leaves (or use regular basil, chives, mint, or cilantro).
Plain Steamed Mussels: The procedure is the same, but omit all ingredients except mussels, oil, and garlic. These are great with a little melted butter (laced with minced garlic, if you like), drizzled over them when they’re done.
| There are many, many herbs, spices, vegetables, and other seasonings that can lend a licorice flavor, including aniseeds or ground anise, five-spice powder, ouzo or raki (the anise-scented liqueurs of the eastern Mediterranean), and tarragon, chervil, even basil—especially Thai basil. (You could probably throw in a few pieces of Good ‘n Plenty while you’re at it.)
Crabby
Crabcakes
TIME: 1 hour
MAKES: 4 servings
Somehow crabcakes have become an emblematic dish, as in “this restaurant has the best crabcakes.” But since crab has the best texture and subtlest flavor of all of the crustaceans, the best crabcakes are those that showcase the crab most fully. And this means that getting the most out of crabcakes
| When the mussels begin to open, add 4 crushed garlic cloves to the pan, shaking the pan as above.
Fennel-Steamed
Mussels, Provence Style
TIME: 30 minutes
MAKES: 4 servings
In a café in southern France more than twenty years ago, I sat in a bistro and timidly prepared to order salade Niçoise. Just then, a huge bowl of steaming, powerfully fragrant mussels was delivered to a man sitting at the table next to me, and I impulsively changed my order. The hot mussels were essentially tossed with fennel and fennel seeds, which I could see, but the licorice bouquet and indeed flavor were far stronger than that combination alone could provide. Later, I realized that there was a secret ingredient: anise liqueur, either Pernod or Ricard. The combination is an alluring one.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 fennel bulb (about 1 pound), trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
½ cup Pernod or Ricard (or 4 pieces star anise)
1 cup chopped tomatoes (canned are fine; drain them first), optional
1 sprig tarragon, optional
At least 4 pounds large mussels, well washed
Pour the oil into a large pot, turn the heat to medium, and heat for a minute. Add the garlic, fennel, fennel seeds, liqueur, tomatoes, and tarragon, if you like. Bring to a boil, cook for about a minute, add the mussels, cover the pot, and turn the heat to high.
Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the mussels open, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the mussels and fennel to a serving bowl, then strain any liquid over them and serve.
WINE
White, crisp, and cold-Muscadet, an inexpensive Italian white, or a good Sauvignon Blanc
SERVE WITH
60-Minute Bread or good store-bought bread; Simple Green Salad
Keys To SUCCESS
FRESH FENNEL is an especially good addition because you can add it in large enough quantity so that it becomes an essential component of the dish, not only for flavor but as a vegetable to round things out.
EVERY YEAR , we see more and more cultivated mussels, most often from Prince Edward Island, which is fast becoming the mussel-farming capital of North America. These are easy to clean (almost clean enough to eat without washing, but still worth a quick going-over), with very few rejects and plump meat. Wild mussels are tastier, but harder to clean. For cleaning instructions.
With MINIMAL Effort
Anise-Steamed Mussels, Asian Style:
Combine the mussels in a cold pot with 1 cinnamon stick, 4 star anise, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons water. Cover and cook until mussels open, 5 to 10 minutes. Toss, if possible, with about ½ cup torn Thai basil leaves (or use regular basil, chives, mint, or cilantro).
Plain Steamed Mussels: The procedure is the same, but omit all ingredients except mussels, oil, and garlic. These are great with a little melted butter (laced with minced garlic, if you like), drizzled over them when they’re done.
| There are many, many herbs, spices, vegetables, and other seasonings that can lend a licorice flavor, including aniseeds or ground anise, five-spice powder, ouzo or raki (the anise-scented liqueurs of the eastern Mediterranean), and tarragon, chervil, even basil—especially Thai basil. (You could probably throw in a few pieces of Good ‘n Plenty while you’re at it.)
Crabby
Crabcakes
TIME: 1 hour
MAKES: 4 servings
Somehow crabcakes have become an emblematic dish, as in “this restaurant has the best crabcakes.” But since crab has the best texture and subtlest flavor of all of the crustaceans, the best crabcakes are those that showcase the crab most fully. And this means that getting the most out of crabcakes
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