Date Night Dinner: Mussels in White Wine

I love seafood and I try to make it whenever I can at home. This week I was craving mussels so I stopped at Wegmans and picked up some organic rope grown mussels. At $6 for 2 lbs, you can't beat a $3 mussel dinner (2 lbs of mussels is way too much for me to eat in one sitting). I used Ina Garten's mussels in white wine recipe since her recipes are usually really fresh and flavorful. I changed the ingredients slightly to use up some of what I had on hand. The original recipe is listed above and what I used is listed below.

Mussels in White Wine
2 pounds mussels
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (5 to 6 cloves)
3/4 cup chopped tomato
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 cup good white wine
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Toasted baguette (optional)

1. Soak mussels in a large bowl with the flour for a half hour, remove the beards and discard any mussels that are not tightly shut.

I did this, and all of the mussels were shut and no beards were present, so I'm pretty sure the mussels had already been cleaned. This step should make the mussels empty some of the sand they may have, so I'd probably do it again in the future anyway.

2. In a large fry pan, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes, or until the onion are translucent. Add the tomatoes, parsley, thyme, wine, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

3. Add the mussels, stir well, then cover the pot. Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, shaking the lidded pan once or twice to prevent scorching, until all the mussels have opened (may take an additional minute or two). Discard any that do not open.

Mussels after cooking and ready to be served

4. Pour into a large shallow bowl with toasted baguette and enjoy!

The best part of the meal in my opinion. Baguette soaked in the white wine sauce then topped with sauteed herbs and tomatoes, super flavorful

Enjoy!