Mussels Cooked in Somerset Cider

Name: Mussels Cooked in Somerset Cider
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: salt and freshly ground black pepper; 100 ml double cream; 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley; 6 rashers of good quality streaky bacon, derinded and finely chopped; 400 ml Somerset dry cider; 1 small onion, peeled, halved and finely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed; 2 kg fresh mussels; a good knob of butter

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

British Seasonal Food

By Mark Hix

Published 2008

About

With their plump, juicy flesh, mussels are at their peak at this time of the year. We are all so conditioned to pouring wine into our sauces that we tend to forget about using our native drinks instead. Both cider and beer are great for cooking mussels.

Ingredients

2 kg fresh mussels
a good knob of butter
1 small onio

Europe
United Kingdom
Main course
October
Gluten-free
Autumn

Method

Scrub the mussels thoroughly and remove the beards. Discard any with open shells that do not close when sharply tapped.

Melt the butter in a cooking pot large enough to hold the mussels. Add the onion, garlic and bacon and cook gently for 3-4 minutes to soften the onion. Add the cider and simmer for a minute or so. Add the mussels, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook over a high hea