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04/16/08 |
                          
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Smoked Mussels, Spicy Lavender Cream Sauce Yields 4 10oz. servings 1 lb. smoked mussels, still in shell 3 c. heavy cream 1/3 c. chopped garlic 1/2 c. white wine 1 T. red chili flakes 2 t. dried lavender 4 oz. pomace olive oil pasta of your choice, in the amount that you desire S&PTT (salt & pepper to taste) In a large skillet, heat oil, S&P, chili flakes and garlic over high heat. Sauté garlic until deep golden brown, and deglaze the pan with white wine. (If you're five seconds too late with the wine, you will have burnt garlic and a completely irreparable dish. Sorry kids.) Add cream, turn heat to medium-high if you can watch it, medium if you're busy with other stuff, and allow sauce to reduce by two-thirds. (I'm guessing this'll take about 10-15 minutes.) After 10 minutes, add mussels to heat through. Just before removing from heat, grind lavender between your fingers and sprinkle into the sauce. Stir well to incorporate. Have heated pasta in a large bowl, pour sauce over pasta, and toss well. Or, if you're a super-fancy cook wit madd $killz, add pasta to sauce and toss in skillet. You will slop some, but that's what you get for trying to show off, tough guy. Garnish with some chopped parsley and serve.
Note from GG: This recipe was one I came up with at Ciao Italia, though it included gorgonzola cheese as well. Turns out the gorg didn't go well with the smoked mussels (there's conTRASTING flavours and conFLICTING flavours, and this was definitely the latter), so I just omitted it. As far as smoking the mussels, we use a mixture of apple wood chips and brandy, which turns out some tasty stuff. Also, the original was written for one serving, to be prepared a la minute at the restaurant, so I'm not sure how it'll translate to larger quantities. It should be okay, but the time it'll take to reduce the cream sauce will be longer than the five minutes we give it at work. Lastly, I'd recommend short pasta for this dish (something like penne or rigatoni or even shells) because the cream sauce needs to get in all those nooks 'n' crannies. I just don't think it'd be the same with fettuccine or spaghetti or stuff, but feel free to prove me wrong!
This site was last updated 12/20/06 |
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