Extreme Budget, Day Twenty-Six - Steamed Mussels

I love a sale on mussels, especially P.E.I. mussels. I can easily get two dinners with one bag. Dinner No. 1 is a pot of steamed with bread and Dinner No. 2 is Baked Mussels Casino with angel hair pasta. Yes, just like Clams Casino but with mussels.

We do eat mussels quite often. They are low carb, low fat, low calorie, Diabetic friendly and nutritious. What's not to love?
This time around I would have liked to head in the Asian flavor direction, but The Nudge wants them done the Sicilian way and what The Nudge wants, The Nudge gets.
I don't have an written recipe for these but if you use a basic good white wine sauce recipe, just replace the wine with Pernod or Sambuca and drop in some chopped tomatoes.

I start by cleaning my mussels in cold water, throwing away any that are cracked or opened. I then fill a large bowl with fresh cold water, drop in a handful of flour and let them purge for 30 minutes.

While they are soaking, prep your ingredients and put the bread in the oven. You always need bread to sop up all those juices, and remember, do not throw away any steaming liquid or any bread not eaten. We will use the liquid to moisten the stuffing that was made with the bread. If you want to make both dishes and are cooking for 4, buy 2 bags of mussels and double the steaming liquid. More is better in this case.

Steamed Mussels
makes 2 servings
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1/2 large shallot, minced
* 3 small garlic cloves, sliced thin
* 1/4 cup white wine
* 1 tablespoon chopped tomatoes
* 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
* 1 teaspoon agave nectar
* 1/4 cup Pernod or Sambuca
* 2 pound bag cleaned mussels
* 2 tablespoons sliced scallions.

1. Saute garlic and shallot in butter. Add white wine and lemon juice.
2. Simmer for 5 minutes, add zest and tomatoes.
3. Simmer 2 minutes. Add agave and Pernod. Simmer until it starts to thicken. Dump in mussels and cover.
4. Simmer 4-5 minutes on high heat. If all mussels have opened, shut the heat off, sprinkle in scallions and serve.
5. Cool remaining half cooked mussels and juice and store in a container.

Cost for this meal: $ 4.99
Running total for 26 days: $95.99