Looking for fresh ideas for how to cook mussels? Look no further. Check out these three great mussel recipes that each are quick and easy to make.
Can you believe it is September already! Labor Day snuck up on me this year!
Even though you can buy mussels in their shells year round, peak season for fresh mussels is September to March. That’s why they are so often readily available in fresh fish markets and specialty grocery stores for your Labor Day gatherings.
Mussels as an appetizer are sooo good, probably one of my favorites. I have been known to order a mussel appetizer as my entree in restaurants. With this most recent batch of fresh mussels, I wanted to develop a few different recipes for these babies since we had so many. Mix it up. Fast and loose. That’s me, living on the edge.
When you buy fresh mussels, you do need to do just a little bit of work to prep them for cooking. Your mussels will be alive when you get them! You can test this by putting them under running cold water. Your mussels should close at the temperature change. You need to toss any which do not close. You also want to toss any which are broken.
Next, scrub the mussels of their beard. This is the hairy, sea-weedy remnant from the underwater mussel farm where they grew up. Usually you can pull this off, but sometimes scrubbing or cutting is required.
When mussels are cooked right, they are mild in flavor and not chewy at all. They work so well in a number of recipes because they easily take on a variety of different flavors.
All three mussel recipes below are delicate yet very flavorful. I hope you enjoy them!!
