Mussels
(Moules a la Mariniere)

Mussels or 'Moules Mariniere' is a traditional recipe originally from Brittany.

They are a great social food, to be eaten with lots of friends.

All around France you will see signs for 'Moules et Frites' nights, these are usually great social evenings with the french.

As the wine flows the moules get eaten!!

(Moules a la Mariniere)

serves:- 6, preparation time:- 10 mins,(but cleaning the moules can take a while) cooking time:- 10-15 mins

Ingredients

* 2&1/2 kg or 5lbs of moules
* 6-8 cloves of garlic, (depending on how much you like garlic !)
* 2 or 3 shallots, chopped finely
* a small bunch of parsley, chopped finely
* 1 litre or 2 pints of Muscadet/white wine
* 1 bouquet garni (thyme,bayleaf and tarragon)
* 50g or 2 oz of butter
* black pepper

Method

* clean and beard the moules
(wash under cold running water, scrape any barnacles or seaweed from them, rip off the beards, squeeze the moules, if they don't open they're ok to use, DO NOT USE CRACKED OR OPEN MOULES)

* put the clean moules in a large pan

* add the pepper, (don't be shy)

* add the chopped shallots, parsley and garlic

* add the wine and bouquet garni

* cover and cook for 8ish minutes, making sure all the moules are now open (discard any that have NOT OPENED during the cooking process)

* add the butter and cook for a further 5 mins

* remove the bouquet garni and serve