Mussels in Buttery Lemon Garlic Sauce

This is just one of the dishes that I loved and won't mind having it often. 

I wished that I had prepared some toasted bread to clean up the sauce.  The sauce was cleared up anyway, because I mixed my rice with it and ate it all up.  Burp!

Ingredients:

• 8 to 10 frozen mussels, thawed and cleaned

Sauce:

• 20g Butter
• 3 - 4 Garlic, minced or grated (you can use a garlic press)
• 200g Cooking Cream
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme or a small handful Fresh Thyme
• 1 to 2 teaspoon Lemon Juice or to your taste
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper to taste
• Zest of half a lemon (optional)

How to to it:

1. Melt butter in a pan.
2. Add garlic and saute till soften and fragrant but not browned.
3. Add cream and Thyme.
4. Cook in medium low heat till the sauce bubbles.
5. Continue cooking till the sauce starts to thicken.
6. Add in the remaining ingredients for the sauce.
7. While the sauce is cooking, prepare the mussels. 
8. Make sure the mussels are thawed, cleaned and dabbed dry.
9. Arrange mussels in a oven proof dish.
10. Once the  sauce is ready, pour it over the mussels.
11. Bake in preheated oven at 230C for 7 mins.
12. Serve immediately.

Notes:

• If you do not have a oven, you can also cook.
• Place the mussels down on the pot; shell facing up.
• Simmer for about 10mins till mussels are completely heated thru.
• I preferred oven baking as it will brown the surface a little and has a more even cooking for the mussel.

Baked Mussels in Tomato Sauce with Cheese 帕斯塔番茄酱加芝士烤青口

I was trying to clear whatever I have in the fridge and in my store before we move house to make thing easier. This was a combination of (frozen) mussels, a can of tomato base pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese which was exactly what I had and wanted to clear.

It's an easy dish. Almost an instant dish. You could have it with pasta but I had it with bread, a la chilli crab. :P

Ingredients:

• 10 Frozen Mussels
• 2/3 - 1 can Campbell's Prego Tomato Base Pasta Sauce
• 1 handful Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper to taste
• Sprinkle of Dried Parsley (optional)

How to do it:

1. Steam mussels for 2 minutes.
2. Drain and set in an oven proof dish.
3. Pour Pasta sauce over.
4. Season with salt and ground black pepper.
5. Give it a toss.
6. Top with Mozzarella Cheese.
7. Bake at 190C for 10 minutes or till sauce bubbles and cheese has melted.
8. Sprinkle on some Parmesan Cheese if you like and serve immediately with pasta or bread.

Baked Mussels in Garlic Butter 奶油蒜烤青口

 My husband knows I love mussels so when he saw this pack of mussels when we were (supermarket) shopping, he picked it up for me. The first thing he commented was, "You mean mussels are so cheap?!" Yes, the pack of mussels cost only .... $1! It's small though but I prefer this than the larger one.

I used the Garlic Butter Spread I had in the fridge to make this. If you don't have any, you can substitute it with 4 gloves of grated garlic and 1 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder to 1 1/2 tablespoon of softened butter.

Ingredients:

• 200g Mussels, washed & cleaned
• 3 clove Garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp Garlic Butter Spread
• 1 teaspoon Dried Mixed Herbs
• 1 teaspoon Dried Parsley
• A pinch of Salt
• A dash of Ground Black Pepper

How to do it:

1. Mix all ingredients except Mussels, salt and ground black pepper together.
2. Combine butter mix with mussels. 
3. Season with salt and ground black pepper.
4. Bake in oven at 200C for 15 - 20 minutes or till all mussels are cooked.
5. Serve immediately.

Baked Mussels with Cheese

I used to dine at Fish & Co. with my friend, Shirley, when I was still working. (Ah! Those carefree days!) I would order the Mussels in Tomato every time we are there.

Since I quitted working and have kids, I dare say, I haven't gone out with any of my friends for makan sessions (pig-out). I'm always seen with my kids! And when we dine out during the weekends, it's usually somewhere which serve food that the kids like.

I love mussels but sad to say, none at home like like it. So, if we do dine at Fish & Co., I won't order it. Hence, I only cook mussels and eat at home; on my own.


The idea for this dish came from the mussel dish from Fish & Co. and .... pasta. :P You see, I had some tomato pasta sauce left which was too little for pasta. So, I thought why not just use it on mussels alone (I usually have mussels in my pasta). The results were not too bad. At least to me, it is. :P I forgot what my sister said as this is one of the dishes I served when she and her colleagues had dinner at my place. ;)



It's easy to make too. You just need mussels, tomato based pasta sauce and mozzeralla cheese.

Steam the mussels for 3 minutes first. If you don't partially cook it first to remove the liquid, when you bake it later, it will be very wet. Then the sauce and cheese will flow out of the mussels.

After steaming the mussels, drain them. You can retain the liquid as seafood stock. Spoon pasta sauce to cover fill the shell. Top with shredded mozzeralla cheese. Sprinkle some chopped parsley if you like.

Now bake at 180C for 10 minutes or till you see the sauce bubbling out of the cheese and that the cheese has melted.

Served it hot. It won't be nice once it's cold. Oh, do try with carbonara sauce too. Though, I strongly recommend tomato sauce. I don't know about you. I always feel that seafood (pasta) taste better in tomato based sauce. ;)

Grilled Mussels with Garlicy Parmesan

I love mussels! No mussels fans at home so I always have it all to myself. However, my husband who hates mussels love this and finished a whole dish of it!!

I usually get those cheap mussels from a nearby supermarket. It is really cheap; less than S$2 for a tray! It has about 30 of them. The best part was, after savouring the dish, I have plenty of shells I can use to do crafts with my son.

Oh, be careful when you eat these. You can't stop at one!

Ingredients:

• 30 Mussels, brushed and cleaned
• 2 tablespoon Butter, melted
• 5 tablespoon Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper, coarsely grounded
• 2 teaspoon Fresh Parsley, chopped (optional)

How to do it:

1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Place mussels in a pot with 50ml water and cover.
3. Cook for 5 minutes or till mussels open up.
4. Drain and discard those that remained close (they are bad).
5. Snap the empty part of the shell off.
6. Place the other shell with the mussels on a oven-proof dish.
7. Mix the remaining ingredients together.
8. Place some of the butter mixture on top of each mussel.
9. Sprinkle more parmesan cheese on top if you like.
10. Grill till the mussels are sizzling and the top mixture are golden.
11. Serve immediately.

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe.

Mussels in Wine 蒜香白酒煮青口

I love mussels. Come to think of it, I love those with shells, snails (shu-shu) cockers, clams, scallops, crab. The list goes on. I bought a pack of mussels from the supermarket and it’s real cheap. Only S$1.10! None in my family enjoy this. So this all mine! Yummy!

Ingredients:

• Fresh Mussels (as in not frozen)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic.
• 2 tablespoon white wine
• 1 tablespoon oil
• A pinch of salt.

How to do it:

1. Heat oil in a pan, sauté garlic till fragrant.
2. Add in mussels and stir-fry till you see they change colour.
3. Add in cooking wine and simmer till it’s cooked.
4. Add a pinch of salt.
5. Dish and serve.

Note:
Like clams, mussels when cooked produce some sauce. Hence water is not required. And there’s a natural sweetness in Mussels so not much seasonings is required.