Julia Child's Moules á la Marinière

August 15th, 2012 would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday. In honor of this, from August 1st until her birthday, my posts will feature Julia, my foodie idol.

First up are Julia's Moules â la Marinière. These are absolutely delicious, and the best part (in my opinion) is the flavorful broth sopped up with a good and crusty baguette.

Moules á la Marinière (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking)
[Fresh Mussels Steamed Open in Wine and Flavorings]
Here is the simplest version of this most typical French methods for cooking mussels. They are steamed open in a big pot with wine and flavorings, and it takes only about 5 minutes. Then the mussels, shells and all, are dipped out into soup plates, and the cooking liquor is poured over them. Each guest removes the mussels one by one from their shells with fingers or a form and discards the shells into a side dish. In addition to shell dish and fork, provide your guests with a soupspoon for drinking up the mussel juices, a big napkin, and a finger bowl. Along with the mussels serve French bread, bitter, and a chilled, light, dry white wine such as Muscadet, dry Graves, or one of the Pouillys.

2 cups light, dry wine or 1 cup dry white vermouth
An 8- to 10-quart enameled kettle with cover
1/2 cup minced shallots, or green onions, or very finely minced onions
8 parsley sprigs
1/2 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon pepper
6 quarts scrubbed, soaked, mussels (see here and here for some great how-tos)
1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley

Bring the wine to the boil in the kettle (I used a large, wide dutch oven) with the rest of the ingredients list (except for mussels and 1/2 cup parsely). Boil for 2 to 3 minutes to evaporate its alcohol and to reduce its volume slightly.

Add the mussels to the kettle. Cover tightly and boil quickly over high heat. Frequently grasp the kettle with both hands, your thumbs clamped to the cover, and toss the mussels in the kettle with an up and down slightly jerky motion so the mussels will change levels and cook evenly. In about 5 minutes the shells will swing open and the mussels are done.

With a big skimmer, dip the mussels into wide soup plates. Allow the cooking liquid to settle for a moment so any sand will sink to the bottom. Then ladle the liquid over the mussels, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

... this recipe can also be found at some of my favorite food blog hops

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