Moules Marinierres

Our French chef friends have taught us this simple way to make this wonderful dish which we use to start off most of our gourmet barbecues. One year, the 4 star chef, Christian Delouvrier, used the two bottles of Grand Cru Chablis (that Gerard had stashed away to serve the chefs with the fish course) to make the sauce. Everyone thought they were the best muscles they ever had. When we found out why, we decided the recipe with the ordinary Chablis was good enough!

One 5 lb bag of mussels (alive)

½ shallot (chopped)

½ lb Butter

½ pint heavy cream

½ bottle of Chablis
½ cup of chopped parsley

Clean the mussels by washing under plenty of cold running water. Discard any open ones that won't close when lightly squeezed. If you see any, pull out any tough, fibrous beards protruding from between the tightly closed shells and knock off any barnacles with a large knife. Give the mussels another quick rinse.

Boil wine, shallots & butter together in a large pot. 

Once boiling rigorously, add the cleaned mussels and cover for one minute. Mix mussels so all get covered with the boiling wine.

Remove mussels and place on a platter.

Reduce sauce for about 5 minutes.

Add cream.

Reduce sauce another 5 minutes.

Put mussels back in, mix and serve. Scatter some parsley over each serving..

Sauteed Mushrooms

Great as a side dish to any roast or broiled meat, or as a main course over polenta or rice. 

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

2 pounds of fresh mushrooms (any combination: shiitake, cremini, button, porcini, etc)

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

4 shallots chopped

½ cup of olive oil

4 tablespoons of butter

1 cup chopped fresh parsley (preferably flat)

Salt, pepper

Directions

Brush the caps of each mushroom with a clean sponge. Remove and discard the stems. Slice the small mushrooms thickly and cut the large ones into chunks (so they are all approximately the same size.) Add the shallots and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, or until the shallots are translucent. Add the butter, mushrooms, salt, and pepper and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, until they are tender and begin to release their juices, stirring often. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Toss in the parsley, sprinkle with more salt, and serve warm.