{"id":1481,"date":"2014-10-10T10:10:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T10:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=1481"},"modified":"2014-10-10T10:10:00","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T10:10:00","slug":"mussels-are-sustainable-easy-to-cook-and-fun-to-flavor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=1481","title":{"rendered":"Mussels Are Sustainable, Easy to Cook, and Fun to Flavor"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are abundant reasons to put mussels on your shopping list this fall and winter. I was recently reminded of just how local and sustainable these shellfish are by blogger Richard Auffrey who sang the praises of mussels on his site, The Passionate Foodie. <\/a><\/p>\n

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Mussels Do Have a Season<\/h3>\n

Taste is important and cool weather is when our local mussels are full of flavor. The folks at Maine Sea Grant explained,<\/a> \u201cMussels can be harvested all year, but most fishing is in the winter when the taste and quality of the meat is best (before the mussels begin spawning in spring and summer).\u201d<\/p>\n

While some Massachusetts mussels come to market, most of the fresh, live, blue mussels we see in local stores are from Maine or Prince Edward Island. Maine claims the US title to have,<\/a> \u201dhistorically ranked first in mussel landings.\u201d Their harvest includes both wild mussels gathered along the rocky coast and farmed mussels from the bays. In aquaculture, from seed to harvest, these filter feeders take only 12-18 months to reach your table.<\/p>\n

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Mussels Mariniere<\/h3>\n

Perhaps the best known recipe for these bivalves is Mussels Mariniere. For this lovely French inspired dish, I chop a shallot, a clove of garlic, some parsley, thyme, and saut\u00e9 those in butter to soften. Then I add half a bottle of crisp white wine, bring it to a boil, and add my cleaned, debearded, and lively mussels. (Always discard any mussels that don\u2019t close up when you tap them.)<\/p>\n

I cook the mussels for 3-5 minutes \u2013 until they just open. Pour the whole thing into a big bowl and serve with crusty bread.<\/p>\n