How to cook and choose mussels
Before you start cooking, you need to choose a quality product. In our time, fresh shellfish can only be found on the coast, and city dwellers in the interior of the continent will always be able to eat frozen.
- Carefully inspect their condition in a pack. They should be covered with a layer of clear ice, not snow. This means that they have not been frozen several times and they have not lost their natural taste.
- Smell the product. Quality seafood does not have any smell at all or from them will come a light fishy flavor.
- Buy packaged products, not weighted. Packaging preserves the taste and all the useful substances of the product.
- If you prefer a product in a vacuum package, first of all, check the integrity of the pack, and then look at the expiration date.
What to cook from frozen mussels
They can be served both as a separate dish, and as the main ingredient for salads. But first of all, mussels should be properly cooked after defrosting. It's better if he gradually gets rid of the ice crust right in the fridge.
After this, rinse them thoroughly under a stream of cold water. It is this stage that should be given great attention, since mussels are able to accumulate sand, parts of algae and other inedible things from the sea depths in their shells.
Remove all the insides, leaving only the muscle and mantle, and let excess water drain.
It is better to cook them for a couple, and not boil in boiling water. So they will retain all useful properties and form. In the water for the bath can add spices. Mussels are prepared quite quickly - just 15-20 minutes. Now you can eat the dish, and if you need to prepare them for salad, do not cook, but fry them in vegetable oil (whole or pieces).
Recipe for pickled mussels
The simplest, but also the most delicious dish that can be prepared from these seafood is to marinate them. Of course, you can buy ready-made in the store, but it is also delicious to cook them at home.
Ingredients
- seafood - 500 g
- vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. l.
- juice of one lemon
- white dry wine - 150 ml
- garlic - 1 clove
- honey and mustard - 1 tsp.
- salt, pepper, sprig of bay leaves, coriander or dill
Cooking procedure
- Pour into the pan wine, we add a whole clove of garlic, salt, pepper and spices and pour the mussels. They should be cooked exactly four minutes from the moment of boiling.
- Prepare the sauce. In the lemon juice pour out the vegetable oil, add pepper, salt, mustard, honey and shredded greens.
- Mussels must be removed from the fire, discarded in a colander and allowed to cool down a little. After that, evenly cover them with sauce in a bowl, where they will pickle and send to the refrigerator for at least five hours.
For the same recipe, shrimp can be marinated.
Baked mussels
This is a very delicious and beautiful dish, so it should be cooked for a special dinner.
Ingredients
- mussels - 500 g (you need them to be in the sinks)
- tomato - 2 pcs.
- garlic - 2 cloves
- Butter - 50 g
- spice
- hard cheese - 150 g
Cooking procedure
- Thoroughly wash the main product from the sand. Special attention is paid to the shells.
- In a saucepan with water, add salt, bay leaves and other spices. We pour out seafood there and cook for fifteen minutes. Carefully examining each. You can eat only those that are opened during cooking.
- Halves neatly divided, take out the meat, inspect the shells and gently put the clams back.
- Garlic and tomatoes should be crushed very much.
- In each half put a little oil, then a spoonful of tomato-garlic mixture, and sprinkle with cheese on top.
- The dish is baked for about 20 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees.