The ones from the sea, not on your arms

so for my dad's 55th birthday me and loan wanted to make something to bring to his birthday dinner so we decided we would make a dish with our new friend - mussels!

and seeing that my mom and dad are picky eaters and refuse to eat anything we make, we decided to do a test run on the mussels for our dinner the day before so if it was a success we could make it on saturday. (and if it was a failure, not make it saturday)

Steamed Mussels with Leeks Garlic Thyme White Wine and Butter

* 3 pounds mussels
* Extra-virgin olive oil
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 2 leeks, white parts only, finely chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/4 bunch fresh thyme
* 1 cup white wine
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Rinse the mussels under cold running water while scrubbing with a vegetable brush.
Remove the stringy mussel beards with your thumb and index finger as you wash them.
Discard any mussels with broken shells.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large pot over medium heat.
Add the leeks, garlic, and thyme and cook until the vegetables cook down to a pulp, about 5 minutes.

Add the mussels and give everything a good toss.
Add the white wine.
Cover and steam over medium-high heat, until the mussels open.<>
Stir occasionally so that all the mussels are in contact with the heat.
Add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and a drizzle of olive oil to the sauce remaining in the pot and swirl to incorporate.

Season with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately
Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/steamed-mussels-with-leeks-garlic-thyme-white-wine-and-butter-recipe/index.html

so. we over cooked the mussels. and added the flat leaf parsley in with the leeks (oops) but all in all i think it was an alright dish. it was an interesting experience and my mom took a bite of a mussel but didn't get to mop up the juices with the crusty french bread which i thought was the best part, but she ate one! and didn't spit it out, or say she could make it better, so success! but not enough to make us determined to share it with our dad for his birthday.

note to self for next mussel dish -

- more butter (yum)

- count on 1/3 of the mussels we buy to be dead

- don't over cook the mussels

so over all this meal was a ...

fail?

( question mark because it was alright, just not something i could eat every day for the rest of my life)

- Vien

- Not Vien