thyme

Southside Weiss Pan Steamed Mussels with Roasted Lemon and Toasted Baguette – Southside Weiss is from Charlotte’s own Olde Mecklenburg Brewery

It wasn’t my intent to post beer steamed mussels today.   I actually had other plans.

And I have a confession.  NC Craft Beer Month totally came at me unexpectedly even though I signed up to for not one, but two cooking with beer events at local restaurants?  Seriously?  How did I get so far behind?

The only excuse I have is that I signed up for these day drinking and cooking educational events months in advance, so things get lost and confused.  I know that must come as a great surprise.

So this weekend I went to a really cool cooking with beer event at Upstream here in Charlotte.  It’s the second event I attended at Upstream and it’s totally fun and really full of food and booze educational. Lisa and I went to a similar event at the Mimosa Grill last weekend.  There may or may not have been beer involved at 11:00 am.

I know we’ve done mussels in beer on this here website before, but this one is different with some of the ingredients and they are steamed in a skillet rather than covered in a Dutch oven.

So let’s talk mussels.  The first thing you have to do is remove the weird hairy beards.  Look up there.  It’s that nasty looking hairy creepy business.  It has to go.

I want that in my dish – said no one ever.  Now, I’m keeping things real here.  I do not like to touch things that are disgusting, so I either wear gloves or use a paper towel and grab that thing and pull it out. It’s easy.  Just unpleasant.  Sorry.

Now, Ina told me about this part.  Put some cold water and baking soda in a large bowl.  Full disclosure: I do not measure this business.  I dump a bunch of baking soda into a bowl and add water.  I then swirl it around and toss in the mussels.  Ina tells me that it will make any residual sand fall out.  Just be sure to scoop out the mussels with a mesh device and don’t pour everything into a colander because all that sand you just removed will be poured back on top.

I’m pretty sure you know how to char a baguette.

If you’re new to this game, there are instructions in the recipe below.

Trust me.  YOU CAN DO IT!  It’s supposed to be charred, so that dark color is not only ok, but encouraged!  You may or may not have to deal with your smoke detector.  I’m not admitting anything. I’m just sayn’ you’ve been warned.

Have a fantastic week, y’all!

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Southside Weiss Pan Steamed Mussels with Roasted Lemon and Toasted Baguette

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds mussels
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• Water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 lemons sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 2 shallots minced
• 6-8 garlic cloves minced
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup Olde Mecklenburg Brewery Southside Weiss a Belgian would be a good substitute
• Thyme fresh, several sprigs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Parsley for finishing and garnish

For the Toasted Baguette

• Baguette 6-8 slices about 1/2 inch thick
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Clean (scrub with a brush) and remove beards from mussels (Use a paper towel or fingers to grab the bread and pull off)
2. Add baking soda to a bowl of enough water to cover mussels, stir to dissolve
3. Add mussels to baking soda/water mixture, and set aside for 30 minutes - according to the interwebs this will remove any sand from the mussels
4. Using a spider or slotted spoon, scoop mussels from baking soda mixture to a colander - don't pour the mussels into the colander becasue the sand you just removed will come with them
5. Heat a skillet or grill pan until hot
6. While skillet is heating, drizzle sliced baguette with olive oil and sprinkle sightly with salt and pepper
7. Char bread on each side in the skillet or grill pan, a couple of minutes on each side, or until color desired
8. Set aside and/or keep warm in oven on low while the mussels cook
9. Using a 12 inch skillet, heat olive and canola oils on medium heat
10. Add lemons, and roast a couple of minutes on each side
11. Add shallots and cook until almost translucent, 1-2 minutes
12. Add garlic and cook until both garlic and shallots are soft, about another minute
13. Transfer mussels to the pan with the garlic and shallots
14. Cook while stirring 1-2 minutes
15. Add beer, butter, and thyme
16. Cook until all open, stirring frequently, rotating from the top to the bottom
17. Finish with chopped parsley and another drizzle of lemon, if desired

Adapted from Upstream