Welcome to week 5 and the final week of my winter warmers series. This series has been running since December and I hope I have brought some delicious and delightful dishes to your home which have kept you warm during the cold winter days and nights. I will be ending the series with one of my favorite dishes. 'Mussels in a spicy Coconut Milk Sauce'. This is one of my creations, it is Asian Inspired and combines mussels in coconut milk to give a rich and spicy asian flavor. Enjoy and I look forward to seeing you in February as I bring more delicious recipes your way.
Mussels in a Spicy Coconut Milk Sauce
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Ingredients (serves 4)
2 lbs/900 g fresh mussels in the shells
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, chopped
1 can coconut milk (14 oz/400 ml)
1 teaspoon fresh chilies, chopped
1 lemon grass stalk, cut into 1 inch/2.5 cm pieces
¼ cup fresh basil, loose leaves
Salt to taste
Method
Wash the mussels thoroughly, remove the beard (hairy part) of the mussels if still present.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over low heat, then fry the garlic and shallot for 3 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, fresh chilies, lemon grass, basil and mussels to the pan, then raise the heat to medium/high and simmer covered for about 5 minutes or until most of the mussels have opened (some may open faster than others).
Remove from heat and throw away any mussels that did not open.
Serve the mussels along with the broth.
Serving suggestions: Serve with toasted crusty bread.
