Tonight's going to be an adventure...

Dan and Renee brought by live fresh mussels they gathered on the coast this weekend. I never worked with mussels before. Dan kindly sent me directions. We'll see how it goes!

Here are Dan-and-Dan's-Mom-tested cleaning and cooking methods from Allrecipes.com:

Cleaning Mussels If you want to avoid serving a bowl of full salty, sandy mussels it's a good idea to become familiar with the simple process of cleaning and debearding mussels.

1. When selecting your mussels, NEVER choose a mussel that is chipped, broken, or damaged in any way. Also, never choose a mussel that is open. The mussels should be tightly closed and stored in a cool area where they can breath. When you purchase your mussels, make sure to immediately unwrap them at home so they can breathe, otherwise they may die before you cook with them.

2. Just before cooking, soak your mussels in fresh water. Soak them for about 20 minutes. As the mussels breathe, they filter water and expel sand. After about 20 minutes, the mussels will have less salt and sand stored inside of their shells.

3. Most mussels have what is commonly called "The Beard ", also known as byssal threads. The beard is comprised of many fibers which emerge from the mussel's shell.

4. To remove the beard, using a dry towel, grasp the beard and give a sharp yank out and toward the hinge end of the mussel. This method will not kill the mussel. If you were to pull the beard out towards the opening end of the mussel you can tear the mussel on the inside of the shell, killing it. Discard the byssal threads.

5. Remove the mussels from the water. Do not pour the mussels and water into a straining device because the sand has sunk to the bottom of the bowl. Pouring the mussels and water into a straining device would cause you to pour the sand back on top of the mussels. Place these mussels into another bowl full of clean cold water.

6. Once the mussels have been soaked, use a firm brush to brush off any additional sand, barnacles , or other oceanic attachments. Rinse the mussels under cool tap water, and set aside. Dry with a towel before cooking .

Cooking Mussels There are many ways to cook mussels . The method we have chosen (steaming) is applicable for use with every different type of mussels and is an especially simple way to make delicious mussels quickly.

1. We used 1 pound fresh cleaned mussels , 1/4 cup white wine, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon butter. This preparation begins once the mussels have already been cleaned and takes about 3 to 4 minutes to cook completely.

2. Preheat a pan over medium heat. Once you have chopped your garlic, place a small amount of butter into your preheated pan. Stir the garlic into the butter. A light olive oil could be substituted for butter.

3. Cook the garlic in the pan until it becomes a tan color. Do not burn the garlic, as burned garlic is very bitter. If you do wind up overcooking the garlic, throw out both the butter and the garlic, then wipe out the pan and start over.

4. Once the garlic is tan, add the mussels. Do not add too many mussels to the pan at once. If the mussels are stacked on top of each other, the weight of the other mussels will make it more difficult for the mussels on the bottom to open. Using this method, you should only cook enough mussels to cover the bottom of the pan at one time. Toss the mussels around in the garlic butter and coat the shells with the fat. Be careful not to be too rough when tossing the mussels in the butter, as the shells are somewhat fragile and will crack and chip.

5. Once the mussels have been coated, add about 1/4 cup of wine per dozen mussels. This creates the necessary steam required to open the shells. It will also decrease the overall heat within the pan. Cover the mussels with a lid to finish cooking.

6. After about 4 minutes, remove the lid. At this point, most if not all of the mussels will be open. Mussels, unlike clams, will open before they are cooked all of the way through. If some of your mussels have not opened, then it is possible that either they were not cooked long enough, or they are bad and should be discarded. If most of them have not yet opened, place the cover back on the pan and wait another minute or two. Be careful not to cook the mussels for too long, as they will become tough and grainy if overcooked.

7. Remove the mussels from the pan. Pour the juices left in the saucepan into your serving plate or bowl with the mussels. The juice is delicious when sopped up with slices of fresh bread.

Soup...mmm.mmm..good

Crappy weekend. Zeb was out of town which meant I slept terribly. The animals were going nuts and, to top it all off, I got a migrane. When Zeb's gone, I eat crap. While he was gone, I had a box of Kraft mac & cheese, way too many Nugget chocolate chip cookies and a ball of fresh mozzarella. It's embarrassing how little I care about what I eat when I'm by myself. Bless his heart, Zeb is always on my case about this. He's going to be heading to DC for a week next month and I'm going to have to really think if Kraft and Nugget cookies can sustain me for that long.

Anyway, tonight I made Southwestern chicken soup in the crockpot. This is one chunky soup! Corn, chicken slices, bell pepper, onion, tomatoes... I was a bit worried because the picture in the article makes the soup look quite tomatoey and red but, with only one can of diced tomatoes, there's not much in the way of red. The broth is more milky in color. I think that's from the corn and chicken. It's very mild until you add the cumin. I just love cumin. It's smoky without being spicy. We actually ran out of ground cumin a few days ago but luckily, I had some cumin seed left so I gave it a whirl in the spice grinder (formerly Zeb's coffee grinder). Oh, the smell is just divine! In eating the soup, it felt like there were too separate dishes: chunky bits and broth. The broth was too thin to really cling to the bits. Not that it didn't taste good but it was different. The taste was fantastic. I think next time, I might add a can of tomato paste to see about intensifying the tomato flavor. Also, I might add rice as well. I liked this one alot! (oh, I didn't put in the green bell pepper, I'm just not a fan.).

One thing I did accomplish this weekend was to finally go through my new crockpot cookbook, Mabel Hoffman's Crockery Cookery. I have high hopes for this one! This is where the Flank Steak in Currant Wine Sauce came from. I pulled out about 50 recipes so we'll be trying new crockpot recipes for at least a year!

Back to an old standard

After several disasters in a row, last night I went for something I knew would be good, Tuna Tatties (Ainsley Harriott's Meals in Minutes, pg. 22). It's a baked potato topped with carmelized onions, tuna, feta cheese and roasted cherry tomatoes. I know the recipe by heart by now. Super simple and very filling. So, yes, dinner was good last night. Finally!

The mystery of the traveling cutting board

For the longest time, we had two cutting boards: a big wooden one and a smaller plastic one. The wooden one is from Crate and Barrel and has been splitting and warping (and no, we don't put it through the dishwasher) - I don't recommend this brand. The smaller plastic one has been the workhorse - I think I bought it years ago back in DC (YAY Target!). So, a while back, Zeb and I realized that the plastic cutting board was missing. We searched everywhere - it was not to be found. So, I used the warping, splitting wooden one and was annoyed. Finally, about a week ago, I broke down and bought a new big plastic cutting board. Two days later, before I had even had the chance to use the new cutting board, the smaller plastic one appears in my office. Spooky...Zeb and I had no idea where it came from. We thought it might be possessed. No one in the office knew how it got there and thought it was weird that I had a cutting board in my office, regardless of size or material.

Turns out, Dan and Renee had it. Any time something goes missing and I can't figure out where it could have gone, they have it. There was another mystery involving a bucket that I won't go into.

The moral of the story is that, while I'm glad to have the smaller cutting board back, its absence finally pushed me to get a better one.

Salty Shrimp

Last night, I made Stir Fry Shrimp with Crispy Lemongrass (From Bangkok to Bali in 30 Minutes, pg 213). Note to self, when recipe calls for both soy sauce and salt, leave one out. This dish was painfully salty which is too bad because it smelled divine. Frying lemongrass gives off a wonderful aroma. Unfortunately, the fried lemongrass wasn't the type of crispy I was expecting - it was more like chewing on fingernail clippings.

Now I love shrimp, could just eat shrimp for days but last night I was having to choke down the shrimp because they were so salty. I guess I'll chalk this dish up to disaster. Now I wonder how much is my fault and how much is the recipe's?

Legumes....

I really don't like working with dried beans. They take forever to prepare and they never seem to truly soften up. Last night I tried to make Middle Eastern Lentil Salad. Very healthy and all. The recipe called for simmering the lentils for 30 minutes or until soft. An hour later, the stupid things were still slightly crunchy. In the end, we drained them when there seemed to be more that were soft than crunchy. I made this recipe as a main dish and I think it wasn't meant for that. The dressing had olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and cumin. It was quite tart and QUITE garlicky. Maybe as a side but it was a bit overwhelming (and not in a good way) as a main dish.

Crockpot recipes as requested by Lisa

Lisa just got a new crockpot and wanted some recipes. Here's the stuffed flank steak recipe which I tried a few weeks ago (delicious!) and a southwestern chicken soup which I'll be trying soon. I got these recipes out of the Sacramento Bee.

Stuffed flank steak
Prep time: 10 minutes * Cook time: 8 to 10 hours * Serves 4

This recipe is simple but impressive. It's a great one to make when you expect company for dinner, but won't be home in time to do a lot of prep work. It is based on one from an old cookbook called "Crockery Cookery" by Mable Hoffmann.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups packaged bread stuffing
1 cup diced, fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 flank steak, 1 to 1 1/2 pounds
2 tablespoons salad oil
1 package brown gravy mix (to make 1 cup gravy)
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1/4 cup currant jelly

Instructions
1. Combine bread stuffing, mushrooms, broth, butter and cheese.
2. Unfold the flank steak and with a sharp knife, lightly score the steak on both sides, cutting diagonally across the grain. Spread the stuffing mixture over one side of the steak and roll it up like a jelly roll. Tie the steak closed with kitchen string or fasten it closed with skewers. Pour the oil into the slow cooker. Place the steak in the cooker and roll so that all sides are coated in the oil.
3. Prepare the gravy mix according to the package directions. Add the wine, onions and jelly to the gravy and whisk until the jelly is dissolved. Pour the gravy mixture over the flank steak.
4. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours. To serve, remove the steak from the pot and slice it. Pour sauce over the meat before serving.

Per serving: 456 cal.; 25 g pro.; 32 g carb.; 23 g fat (10 sat., 8 monounsat., 5 polyunsat.); 67 mg chol.; 735 mg sod.; 1 g fiber; 15 g sugar; 48 percent calories from fat.

Southwestern chicken soup
Prep time: 5 minutes * Cook time: 5 hours * Serves 10

This delicious main-course soup flavored with corn, tomatoes, red and green peppers and chicken breast strips is simple to make, thanks to several convenient canned items. Cumin, added at the end of the cooking time, gives the soup extra zip. The recipe is from "The Best Slow Cooker Cookbook Ever" by Natalie Haughton.

Ingredients
2 14 1/2-ounce cans chicken broth
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced peeled tomatoes
1 4-ounce can diced green chilies
1 16-ounce package frozen corn kernels, partially thawed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips
1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Seasoned salt

Instructions
1. In a 5-quart electric slow cooker, mix together the broth, tomatoes with their liquid, green chilies, corn, red and green peppers, onion, chicken strips and garlic pepper.
2. Cover and cook on the high setting 1 hour. Reduce the heat to the low setting and continue cooking 3 to 4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Stir in the ground cumin and season with seasoned salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Per serving: 132 cal.; 14 g pro.; 15 g carb.; 3 g fat (1 sat., 1 monounsat., 1 polyunsat.); 29 mg chol.; 531 mg sod.; 2 g fiber; 4 g sugar.