By Dennis Judson, Adventure Sports in Santa Cruz
Grand Marnier Mussel Stew was a recipe that was created for a contest between San Francisco chefs for alternate food creations for Thanksgiving. This mussel stew is an alternative to traditional clam chowder.
The recipe is in two movements: 1) a fumet with mussels in alcohol and 2) cream-based soup with potatoes and vegetables.
Fumet
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup bacon, salt pork or barbecued tofu, chopped
- ½ cup each carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms and parsley, chopped finely
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- Dash saffron, curry and fresh cracked pepper
- 5 pounds mussels
- 1 cup brandy
- 1 cup Grand Marnier
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the spices and meat or meat substitute. Sauté the vegetables in descending order of toughness. When onions are clear and carrots are soft, dump in mussels. Don’t bother to clean the shells, as this adds more flavor. Pour in liquor and cover, to steam. Remove mussels when shells open and meat begins to coalesce. Don’t overcook. Place in a pan to cool. Allow fumet to simmer and reduce by half. Remove mussel meat from shells. Discard beard and save meat.
Soup
- 4 ounces butter
- 1 slice bacon, salt pork or barbecued tofu, chopped
- 2 cups carrots, finely grated
- 2 cups celery, onions, Portobello mushrooms, parsley and cilantro, chopped coarsely
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 2 tablespoons oregano
- 2 tablespoons thyme
- 2 cups 1-inch thick, boiled red potatoes, al dente, chopped
- 2 quarts whipping cream, half-and-half or nondairy creamer
- 1 teaspoon curry
- 1 teaspoon saffron
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup flour
Melt butter in a 1-gallon soup pot. Put in meat or meat substitute and cook until ham meat is clear. Sauté vegetables, except parsley and cilantro, in descending order of hardness. Mix in spices. When onions are clear, mix in the flour. When flour is well mixed, add cream and mix until smooth. Add boiled potatoes.
When Mussel Fumet is to the desired concentration, filter it into this soup mixture. Do not pour in the last of it because it contains the enemy: sand. Add parsley and cilantro at the end. As you serve, add 2 tablespoons of mussel meat to each portion.
About the author
At Edible Monterey Bay, our mission is to celebrate the local food culture of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties, season by season. We believe in sustainability, and we believe everyone has a right to healthful, clean and affordable food. We think knowing where our food comes from is powerful, and we hope our magazine, website and newsletters inspire readers to get to know and support our local growers, fishers, chefs, vintners and food artisans.
