Grand Marnier Mussel Stew was a recipe that was created for a contest given to San Francisco chefs for alternate food creations for Thanks Giving. This mussel stew being an alternative for the traditional clam chowder.
The recipe is in two movements: a fume with mussels in alcohol and cream based soup with potatoes and vegetables.
Ingredients
4 tbsp. Butter
½ c Bacon or salt pork or barbecued tofu depending on your pleasure, chopped
½ c each carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, parsley, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, smashed & chopped
1 tbs. Each oregano & thyme
Dash saffron, curry. & fresh cracked pepper
5 lbs. Mussels
1 cup each brandy and Grand Mariner
Method
- Melt the butter; put in the spices. meat or meat substitute, and 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 … adds more flavor. Pour in liquor cover to steam.
- Remove Mussels when shells open and meat begins to coalesce. Don t over cook. Place in a pan to cool. Allow fume to simmer. You want to reduce the fume by ½. Remove Mussel meat from shells, discard beard, and save meat.