Learning how and what to cook based on seasons was one of the learning curves for me when I moved to Australia. Knowing what produce was in season, that hot soups and baked pot pies were good in winter and lighter cold dishes were perfect for summer was something very new to me. With Malaysia's all year round average 30deg weather, no food was too hot or cold for a season.This last December made it officially two years since I've moved to Sydney. So this was my third summer, and two winters had passed enough to almost learn the basics.
Realising that it was going to be a lovely warm sunny this weekend, and having rarely cooked any seafood dishes - I thought this would be a perfect time to try.
I invited over to our place for lunch an old primary school classmate and her family who had recently moved to Sydney from Brisbane. Since she doesn't eat beef, seafood was a great (and coincidental) choice for a summer Sunday lunch. So I decided that the menu was going to be Chilli Mussels, Prawn Mango salad, a Chocolate Raspberry crème caramel for dessert, and ice-chilled homemade lemonade.
My aunt in Perth had once taught me how to make chilli mussels almost ten years ago, while I was living with her studying there. Having never attempting to cook it again, I'd almost forgotten what she taught me. The Tasmanian Blue Mussels were in season at $7.99 per kg at the Sydney Fish Markets and I was itching to try it again.
While my aunt's recipe was faint in my mind, I looked up a recipe online and coincidentally found a Perth site that was closest to what I remember. Then I took a little liberty with some of the ingredients and tried this out:
Chilli Mussels
Ingredients
1.5kg fresh Tasmanian Blue Mussels
150ml Olive Oil
1/2 brown onions, chopped
3 fresh chillies
6 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
200ml white wine (I used Chardonnay)
200g fresh mini roma tomatoes, boiled
Salt & Pepper
Italian Parsley, for garnishing
Method
- De-beard mussels and wash well, set aside.
- In a boiling pot of water drop tomatoes in for 10/20 seconds, take out and place into cold water.
- Chop up onions, garlic and chili separately.
- In a large pot, heat the the olive oil then sauté the onions, garlic and chilli.
- Add the tomato and cook for 5 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
- Add the mussels and a good splash of the white wine. Put lid on and cook for 5 to 10 min's without stirring too much. You'll know that the mussels are cooked when they're all opened up.
- Serve in individual bowls or one large serving bowl, and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
- Serve with crusty bread. (Lemon halves are optional)
Careful not to overcook the mussels as they can become quite chewy and hard. I put a timer on for 10 minutes after I pop the mussels in the pot and cover the lid. When time's up, I open to check to see how many of the mussels were open. If the majority, then they're cooked. I took the pot off the stove and let it sit for a while before serving.
Having never cooked mussels before, I read up and got a few other tips:
- Select live mussels - if you're at the market and the mussels are available to touch, you'll notice if they're gaping open, they'll clam up when you touch them. This means they're fresh. De-beard the mussels just before you cook. Apparently this keeps it fresher, especially if you're keeping them in the fridge overnight, instead of de-bearding them the day before.
- De-bearding is pulling out the grassy stuff that sticks out from the mussels.
- While you're de-bearding, throw out the mussels that are dead. The ones that gape open and don't react when you touch them.
- After cooking, throw out the mussels that are not open. There's no point in wrestling them open to eat cos your tummy's going to disagree with you anyway.
The main dish aside, a summer-style dessert was an easy choice. I could've served up a homemade peach sorbet I made after buying fresh peaches a few weeks ago near the Hawkesbury. Instead, I was craving a little custard. I was initially going to make a Filipino leche flan (similar to normal flan/egg custards but firmer to the taste due to the egg yolk ratio) - but I couldn't resist the fresh raspberries at Harris Farm. Thankfully I found a crème caramel variation which included chocolate (very important) and the raspberries.
I think I used too much condense milk than what was asked for in the recipe, because I found it too sweet to my liking. Nevertheless, for a sweet tooth like my husband - he enjoyed it. And I hope our guests enjoyed our little Summer arvo feast as well!
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