Moules et Frites
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 02:33AM l
Whenever I am in Paris I always visit a little bistro called Moules et Frites, Leon de Bruxelles, 63 Champs-Élysées, or the other one at 131 Boulevard Saint-Germain. In Paris is the first time I had ever heard of moules et frites, which is mussels and fries. French fries, freedom fries, chips, whatever you want to call them, NO ONE makes better frites than the French and though Leons is a, hold your nose, chain, and of course there's always snobby elites that will testify that there are much better places in Paris to have mussels and fries, I like restaurant Moules et Frites. Its fun, loud, cozy and full of beer and good wine. So years ago I decided to make them myself and though the frites are a bit of trouble, I still do. Now the way the Parisians do it is after you eat the first mussel, you use the shell as a pincher, like a tiny tong, and you very neatly, pick up a golden crisp fry, dip it into the delicious mussel nectar and pop it into your mouth! You apply a classic pincher maneuver and it works every time. You can also make any number of dipping sauces like my garlic aioli, which I have given the recipe for on another article, but for my money, I just like the juice of the mussels themselves. So here is the recipe. Make it, pour yourself a glass of white Burgandy and transport yourself to the Champs-Élysées on a warm Spring night in Paris!
A note about mussels. I buy mine at the Farmer's Market where I know they are fresh. I have bought them at fish markets and also at upscale supermarets such as Whole Foods or Molly Stones in San Francisco. If you buy them at a regular supermarket, be sure to smell them and make sure they smell fresh. Discard any mussels that have opened or any presenting an unpleasent odor.
4 lbs mussels
3/4 bottle dry white wine
1 large shallot
3 cloves garlic
3tbsp crème fraîche
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, saucier, or stainless pot which I show in the photograph, and saute the chopped shallots and garlic for about 10 minutes. Add the wine and parsley, bring to a boil, then lower the heat, add the mussels and put the lid on. Steam for about 5 minutes until they have opened. Remove the mussels then strain the liquid into a clean saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce by half. Lower the heat, stir in the crème fraîche and season with sea salt and coarse pepper.
4 large russet potatos
Canola oil to cover a large pan by 1 inch
Peel and cut potatos into aprox 1/4" slices. Now, the secret of good frites is to cook them twice. Heat the oil to about 325 degrees or until it begins to sizzle. Add only a few of the fries, enough to cover the bottom of the pan and cook for about 5 minutes. This is blanching. They won't be golden or crisp. Remove them carefully and place on a paper bag or paper towels. Raise the heat to about 375. If you don't have a thermometer, just turn the heat up and wait for a bit until the oil is hotter! Then re-add the fries and cook until golden.
To serve, place the mussels with the liquid into 4 deep bowls (serves 4) and sprinkle with more chopped parsley. Serve the frites on plates. Make sure you have a big bowl or plate to place the used shells and serve with a chilled minerally white wine like a Chablis or a white Burgandy. Bon Appetit!
Reader Comments (2)
Looks yummy! We were on the Oregon coast once at an rv place that had crabbing. They cooked them in a huge boiling pot and you dipped the crab in it's own juice
with a cold beer outdoors on a picnic table. It was such a cool experience. This reminds me of that:)
Yeah, they do that at ports of call in san pedro too!