For almost any housewife, cooking mussels cannot be called routine. Recipes with this seafood are distinguished by sophistication, originality. In order for everything to work out well, it is necessary to cook them properly before preparing the mussel meat.
Shellfish that are already on sale boiled or canned do not raise questions. But what to do with fresh mussels in the sinks? They are processed as follows: first, the shells are cleaned of extraneous deposits, washed so that there is no sand left in the stomach, and then they are kept for several hours in cold water and washed again. After this, pour new water and boil for 20 minutes, no more. Cooked meat is removed from the shells and washed well from sand with warm water. Then proceed with meat according to the recommendations in the recipe. Although it’s better to also fry it so that the smell of dampness disappears, and then use it for cooking different dishes.
How to cook peeled mussels? Even easier. They are usually sold frozen. Then they should thaw in cold water. After that, they need to be washed and immediately used to prepare second courses and soups. Delicious is obtained from mussels and a simple broth. In addition, it is prepared from peeled mussels very quickly and easily. The clam meat should be lowered into water, add spices, roots, onion, bring to a boil and boil over low heat for 25-30 minutes.
This, of course, does not end the preparation of mussels. Recipes exist the most diverse. For example, "Mussels cooked with rice." A set of necessary products: 750 g of peeled mussels (corresponding to 3.5 kg of unpeeled mussels), 150 g of oil (preferably olive), 3 tablespoons of wheat flour, 100 ml of wine (white), 2 raw eggs, 1 lemon, pepper, parsley leaves, salt, a spoon of tomato paste.
Rinse the mussels thoroughly, peel and boil in salted water with the addition of a leaf of laurel. Then remove the mollusks from the water, and boil the rice in it until half-cooked . Then mix it well with tomato, fried onions, salt and pepper. Fry the mussel meat with onion in butter and combine it with rice. Fill the cleaned shell flaps with the prepared mixture, put them in a pan, squeeze in a bowl, add a little broth and boil under the lid for another half hour. Serve right in the sink.
Cooking mussels recipes are not limited to cooking only. Fried mussels are no worse, on the contrary. To cook them, mussels (unpeeled, 2 kg) must be peeled and boiled, while parsley branches, salt, a bay leaf, one onion, pepper and a glass of white wine should be added to the water. Then you should remove the meat from the shells and each mussel, chopped on a fork, dip in batter and deep-fry. For the test, you need to mix 2 tablespoons of milk and wheat flour, one egg, salt. Serve clams to the table with lemon juice.
Naturally, the place of honor in the marine cuisine is the preparation of mussels. Recipes of some dishes are called: “Mussels in a sailor's style”, “Mussels in a fishing style”. For fishing mussels, you need to take 2 kg of unpeeled shellfish, a glass of white wine, 2 tablespoons of crushed crackers and butter, onion (small), 1 spoon of lemon juice, bay leaf, salt, parsley leaves.
Mussels need to be cleaned, cooked, removed the meat from the shells and kept a little warm (do not put on fire!). Finely chop the onion, put in a saucepan, add wine, put on a strong fire and let the wine boil over. Add the broth of mussels to the onion and let it boil. Then remove from heat, add slices of butter, crushed crackers, lemon juice and herbs. Sprinkle crackers gradually, constantly stirring, so that lumps do not form. After that, put the mussels in the sauce and heat over low heat (do not bring to a boil). Serve hot.
It is easy to transform the eastern pilaf into a sea dish by cooking it with mussels. Boil and then fry the mussels with onions. Pre-boil rice and separately fry in oil, also with onions. Then pour the rice with water, cover and put in the oven for 15-20 minutes. When rice is ready, add mussels to it and mix. Ingredients: 750 g peeled mussels, 4 tablespoons butter, a couple of onions, a glass of rice, 500 ml of broth or water, spices.