mussels

Mussels on sale at The Cousins, Albany, NY

I walked in to The Cousins yesterday thinking porgies or maybe bass, something easy to roast ... parsley, lemon, keep it simple. Ahhhh the best laid plans. Mussels were on sale -- 2 lbs for 99 cents. Who am I to fight such signs?

OK, well mussels are simple. Toss them in a pot, onions, parsley, wine. I was still on course. But then I spotted the squid glistening in the front bin. I hadn't seen it look so good in a while. Mussels, squid, maybe, maybe. This is where things pretty much fell off the rails and my vision was crowded with distant memories of seafood fra diavolo in a small red sauce place in Chester, NY. Why hadn't I ever made that at home? How hard could it be?

Two pounds of mussels, a pound of squid and six little strips of perch later I was headed home.

Here's what I can up with. Three thumbs up from the kids.

I didn't need all of the mussels for the dish, so we had some on the side. They were good, a little on the small side (although my kids like them better that way), but quite sweet. Not the best I've ever tasted, but perfectly enjoyable, especially for the price.


fra diavolo sauce in the making

Here's the recipe.

The squid were especially tender for some reason.
seafood fra diavolo

But the mussels were yummy, too.
mussels

Seafood Fra Diavolo on the fly

Ingredients

1 pound mussels
1 pound perch, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 pound squid, bodies and tentacles, cut the bodies into 1/2-inch rings


3/4 pound capellini, or some other long thin pasta

1 large can diced tomatoes (28 oz)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup dry hard Italian sausage like abruzzese, cut into small pieces
crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 pats butter
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
chopped fresh parsley, about 1/4 cup
olive oil

Instructions

Wash the squid and fish well in cold water and then fill a large bowl with cold water and several shakes of kosher salt. Put the seafood in and let it soak while you are preparing the sauce.

Put pasta water on to boil.
Pour enough olive oil in a deep frying pan to coat the bottom well. Heat on medium until fruity smell releases. Add crushed red pepper to taste. I use a couple of shakes, but I'm cooking for kids. Add garlic and onion. Cook until it sweats, but don't brown it. Add sausage, stir, cook for a minute or two. Add both cans of tomatoes (diced and sauce), juice and all. Add vinegar and basil. Let it cook down about 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Keep the temp at a low simmer. Add butter. Let it melt.

While the sauce is cooking (about 20-30 minutes all together) clean mussels and toss them in a deep pan with about an inch of water and a little lemon juice.

Drain and rinse the squid and fish. Squeeze a bit of lemon over it if you like.

The end is the only tricky part. You want to serve this right away, and nothing can really wait for anything else. So get the table set and threaten your children with no stories if they don't wash their hands and get to the table.

So when the pasta water is boiling and the mussels are starting to steam, add a bit of salt to the pasta water and toss the pasta in. Put the squid and fish in the sauce and stir well. Let it cook while the pasta is boiling. Add the parsley near the end. They should finish about the same time.

Toss the pasta with the sauce. Add the mussels, toss again.

Serve with good bread to dip in the sauce.

posted March 8, 2008 | link | comments (1)

filed under: Places, Recipes, Albany, mussels, NY, pasta fra diavolo, squid, The Cousins

AllOverAlbany.com

Comments

WONDERFUL! i love your blog, so refreshing in it's positive uplifting nature compared to so many others out there!

we had an impromptu mussels and fries dinner party recently, hit the cousins and bought a ten pound bag of prince edward island mussels for $21 (clean, cultivated, no grit at all, no need to soak 'em, just rip off any stray beards), hit the coop for a bag of organic russets on the way back home, fries fried at 325 first, then 350 a second time insures light airy crispness, basil mayo, garlic mayo, even mayo mayo, biggest pot in the house fired up with batches of winy garlicky parsley steamed mussels, WHAT A FEAST....

- by JWW on Mar 9, 2008 at 8:45 AM | link

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