September 21, 2009
There was a lot to celebrate recently when we met up with friends from the Downtown Seattle Association at a conference in the Midwest. The decision by the Frank Russell Investments company to move to Seattle coincided with the major events around the opening of The Bravern in Bellevue, as well as the recent naming of TransManage (our transportation management affiliate) as the top TMA in the Country. All the great news had us pumped up, and so we celebrated – where else – over a meal.
And boy, did Milwaukee flex its culinary muscle. At the Hinterland Gastropub in the city’s historic Third Ward district, we enjoyed a number of local and regional specialties prepared with care and a high degree of creativity. Starting with pig trotter fritters, we moved to salads: arugula with fried goat cheese, pea shoots prepared with ripe pear and sweet nuts. Entrees included elk, duck (with a sherry foie gras sauce), kajicki (a Hawaiian fish, prepared with grilled risotto cakes), local organic beef, and Prince Edward Islands mussels. Inventive ice cream paired with each dessert, such as goat cheese with flourless chocolate cake, chocolate stout with a peanut butter tart, and lemon/rosemary with green apple beignets.
Our second meal featured international small plates, and a dynamic young chef hard at work supporting the local food system, sourcing products from the area, including an innovated fish farm housed in an abandoned factory. His take on fresh beet raviolis, paired with a lemon-parmesan sauce, was out of this world. The third great meal featured a chef, formerly a nurse at Harborview, who brought that great Northwest sensibility about food back to her home town of Milwaukee. She’s got a number of Washington and Oregon wines on her list, and they paired well with the best meats the Prairie has to offer. Just like here in Bellevue, these chefs are working together to raise the level of awareness and appreciation for local products and excellent culinary experiences.
We can’t source much elk here in Puget Sound, but we do have mussels, and sorry Prince Edward Islands, ours are way better than yours. Everyone has their favorite way to prepare them, but we found some excellent recipes from an Old Bellevue favorite, Bis on Main, and Bravern newbie, Artisanal Brasserie & Winebar. This is a great time of year for mussels, and as we return to indoor dining on cooler evenings, what could be nicer than a warm bowl of steaming bivalves?
Courtesy of Chef Christopher Peterson of Bis on Main, here’s a great recipe for Green Curry Mussels:
Serves 4 to 6
Sauce (to be made in advance):
¼ ea peeled carrot, onion, stalk celery & leek roughly chopped
1 ea small knob ginger, roughly chopped
1 ea jalapeno, seeded & roughly chopped
1 ea mango pit, or other mango scrap
1 ea thai basil stems
1/8 C rice wine vinegar
½ C white wine
¼ C clam juice
3 C coconut milk
¾ C heavy cream
3 T green curry paste (mae ploy brand)
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine vegetables, ginger, jalapeno, mango pit & rice wine vinegar. Over high heat, reduce until vinegar is dry then add white wine & reduce by half. Then add clam juice & basil stems, reduce by 1/3. Then add coconut milk & heavy cream, bring to a simmer & simmer for about 15 minutes. Strain through a fine strainer, discard vegetables & while liquid is still hot, thoroughly whisk in the curry paste, making sure there are no clumps. Refrigerate.
To Complete:
2 lb best available mussels (preferably penn cove) rinsed & debearded
3 ea fresh, small, mild green chilies, seeded & small diced
3 ea small thai eggplant or 1 japanese eggplant cut into small pieces & lightly salted
½ ea mango; peeled, seeded & small diced
1 C picked thai basil leaves or regular basil
1 ea recipe green curry sauce (shown above)
2 T olive oil
Using a large, lidded sauté pan, heat olive oil until almost smoking. Add eggplant, chilies & mango. Sauté briefly, about 45 seconds. Add mussels, sauté briefly, then add the green curry sauce. Quickly bring to a boil & cover. Cook until mussels pop open but do not overcook! The mussels should remain a whitish color. Discard any that turn orange or do not open. Toss in picked basil leaves, remove from heat & serve.
Courtesy of Chef Terrance Brennan, here is Artisanal Brasserie’s recipe for Penn Cove Mussels Provencal with Tomato Confit:
Serves 4
Penn Cove Mussels Provencal Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 pounds Penn Cove (about 70 mussels) beards removed rinse clean under cold running water
1 cup Alsatian wine such as Gewürztraminer or Riesling
¼ plus 2 tablespoons Tomato Confit (recipe follows) or diced plum tomatoes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 1” cubes
3 tablespoons thinly sliced basil leaves
3 tablespoons thinly sliced parsley
Salt to taste
Black pepper in a mill
Tomato Confit Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups olive oil, plus more if storing Tomato Confit
2 heads of garlic crushed
5 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
6 Roma Tomatoes (about 1 ¼ pounds total weight) peeled and deseed- cut into 1’pieces
Tomato Confit Method:
Preheat the oven to 225*F. Place all ingredients in a baking dish and stir to combine. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 2 hours and 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
Penn Cove Mussels Provencal Method:
Pour the olive oil into a heavy bottomed, 8 quart pot and set it over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring often, until they release their flavors, approximately 1 minute. Add the mussels and continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and Tomato Confit (recipe above). Turn flame on high and cover with a lid.
When the mussels begin to open, approximately 1 minute, add butter and stir. When the butter is incorporated with broth into an emulsion, take off heat and toss mussels with parsley and basil. Season with salt and 8 grinds of pepper, or to taste. Divide into 4 bowls.
Finally I wanted to offer my own recipe for Thai Red Curry Mussels which has been my husband’s favorite dish that I’ve cooked up for the last half of our marriage:
Serves 4 as entrée
Ingredients:
2 T Peanut oil
3 T Red Curry Paste
½ C White Wine
1 can (14 oz) Coconut Milk
2 T Fish Sauce
2 T Fresh Lime Juice
1-2 Kaffir Lime Leaves*
2 cloves Garlic, crushed and chopped
2/3 C. Green Onions, sliced
½ C Piquillo peppers, rough chopped
1 T brown sugar
2-3 pounds Penn Cove mussels
3 T chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
4 T chopped basil (pref. Thai)
Method:
Heat oil in bottom of stock pot; add curry paste and stir to loosen; add next 5 ingredients (through Kaffir lime leaves).
When simmering, add garlic, green onions, Piquillo peppers; stir thoroughly.
Add brown sugar to taste; let simmer 5 minutes.
Add mussels, stir into the liquid and cover for another 5 minutes.
For the last minute or so, add cilantro and basil and stir a couple of times, till the shells pop open (but no longer, you never want to overcook mussels!).
To Serve:
Serve in broad-rimmed, shallow soup bowls, spoon sauce over mussels and garnish with more cilantro. Sugggestions: Serve with warm chunks of ciabatta or sourdough bread, and a fall-themed salad. Pair with a dry but fruit-forward white wine like a Gruner Veltliner or a Washington Viognier.
*Kaffir lime leaves, as well as Thai basil, curry paste, and fish sauce, can be sourced at Asian markets here on the Eastside.
Savory Chicken
