Fennel Steamed Mussels Provencal Recipes

Steps:

• Broth: In a medium sauce pan, slowly roast 3 cups of shrimp heads and shells in a small amount of oil until crisp and fragrant. Add all ingredients except water. Reduce by 1/4 and add water to cover the shells by 1-inch. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Strain, chill, and reserve.
• Rouille: Combine the first 5 ingredients in a bowl of a food processor and process until foamy, slowly drizzle in the oil until thick, season. You want this thick enough to dollop.
• Mussels: Place the carrots, fennel and leeks in a medium sauce pan with the saffron broth and the mussels. Cover and steam for 2 minutes or until the mussels have opened (discard any unopened mussels.) Remove mussels and divide among 4 service bowls. Add the tomatoes to the vegetables along with the herbs. Reduce for 4 minutes. Mount in the butter and season. Top each bowl of mussels with vegetables and broth. Mound with a generous dollop of rouille and serve with grilled bread.

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garlic and fennel; cook until just soft and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add the carrots and season with salt and pepper; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are just soft, about 4 minutes. Add the vermouth and boil to reduce slightly. Add the tomatoes and tarragon, then cover the pot and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup water and the mussels. Raise the heat to high, cover and cook until the mussels open, 3 to 5 minutes. (Check halfway through and transfer any open mussels to a serving bowl.) Transfer all the mussels to a serving bowl, discarding any that do not open. Season the sauce with pepper and, if needed, salt, and pour over the mussels. Serve with the bread.
• Photograph By Antonis Achilleos

Steps:

• Scrub the mussels, remove beards and barnacles, and wash in cold water, agitating with the hand; repeat until the water remains clear. Drain well.
• Heat oil in a large saucepan or kettle. Add garlic, fennel, onions and sweet red pepper, and cook briefly over medium-high heat until wilted. Do not burn garlic. Stir often.
• Add tomatoes, saffron, turmeric, pepper flakes, wine, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer 2 minutes.
• Add mussels and basil. Cover tightly, and cook over high heat until all mussels are opened, 5 to 6 minutes. Serve immediately with French or crusty Italian bread.

Steps:

• Place the oil in a large pot and turn the heat to medium; 1 minute later, add the garlic, fennel, fennel seeds, liqueur, and tomatoes and tarragon if you're using them. Bring to a boil, cook for about 1 minute. Add the mussels, cover the pot, and turn the heat to high.
• Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the mussels open, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the mussels and fennel to a serving bowl, then strain any liquid over them and serve.

Steps:

• Put the oil in a large pot over medium heat; a minute later, add the garlic, fennel, fennel seeds, liqueur, and tomatoes and tarragon if you're using them. Bring to a boil, cook for about a minute, add the mussels, cover the pot, and turn the heat to high.
• Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the mussels open, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the mussels and fennel to a serving bowl, then strain any liquid over them and serve.
• Variations
• There are many, many herbs, spices, vegetables, and other seasonings that can lend a licorice flavor, including anise seeds or ground anise; five-spice powder; ouzo or raki, the anise-scented liqueurs of the eastern Mediterranean; and tarragon, chervil, even basil-especially Thai basil. (You could probably throw in a few pieces of Good&Plenty while you're at it.)
• Or you can go super-minimal and make plain steamed mussels. The procedure is the same, but omit all ingredients except mussels, oil, and garlic. Shake the pot a couple of times while cooking. These are great with a little melted butter (laced with minced garlic if you like) drizzled over them and a big loaf of crusty bread.
• Mussels
• Every year, we see more and more cultivated mussels, most often from Prince Edward Island, which is fast becoming the mussel farming capital of North America. These are easy to clean (almost clean enough to eat without washing, but still worth a quick going over), with very few rejects and plump meat. Wild mussels are far tastier but harder to clean.
• When cleaning mussels, discard any with broken shells. If the mussels have beards-the hairy vegetative growth that is attached to the shell-trim them off. Those mussels that remain closed after the majority have been steamed open can be pried open with a knife (a butter knife works fine) at the table.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. Using fork, pierce sausages all over. Heat each of 2 large cast-iron skillets or other large ovenproof skillets over medium-high heat. Add half of sausages to each skillet and cook meat until browned, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add half of onions, half of fennel, half of garlic, and half of dried crushed red pepper to each skillet. Add 1 cup white wine to each skillet and bring to boil. Cover and simmer until sausages and vegetables are cooked through, about 12 minutes. Add 1/2 cup wine, then 1/2 of mussels to each skillet; transfer skillets to oven and roast uncovered 5 minutes. Carefully remove skillets from oven; top each skillet with enough baguette slices to cover completely. Return skillets to oven; bake uncovered until mussels open and bread slices begin to brown, about 5 minutes longer (discard any mussels that do not open).
• Drizzle bread in each skillet with extra-virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve mussels and sausages directly from skillets.

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in shallots and garlic, and cook until tender. Stir in fennel and tomato, and continue cooking about 5 minutes.
• Mix white wine, ouzo, and heavy cream into the saucepan, and bring to a boil. Gradually stir in mussels, 1/2 the basil, and salt.
• Cover saucepan, and continue cooking about 5 minutes, until the mussels have opened. Garnish with remaining basil to serve.

Steps:

• To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions, celery, garlic, basil and bouquet garni, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until softened but not browned.
• Mix in the tomato paste and tomatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar, and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
• Put the mussels in a casserole dish with the wine, over high heat, and bring to a boil. Cook for a few minutes only, until the mussels have opened, stirring frequently to ensure they are evenly cooked.
• Pour off the cooking liquid, discard any mussels that have not opened, and return the opened mussels, in their shells, to the casserole dish.
• Pour the hot tomato sauce over the mussels and heat through. Sprinkle with chopped basil and serve at once.