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Moules Marinières (Sailor’s Mussels)
 and Oven-fried Pommes Frites

Mussels steamed in wine with shallots, garlic and lots of parsley and oven-fried pommes frites flavored with herbes de Provence.
Servings 4 to 6; Pommes frites, 2 to 3

Ingredients

For the Mussels

  • 3 pounds mussels, scrubbed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2-1/2 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 2 medium shallots, chopped (or 1 medium onion)
  • 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1-1/2 cups dry white wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1-1/2 cups chopped flat-leaf parsley

For the Frites

  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 tablespoons good quality olive oil
  • 2 large baking potatoes, Russet or Idaho
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried herbes de Provence (see Kitchen Notes)

Instructions

  • Quick note: Do not clean the mussels or even take them out of the fridge until you've prepped everything else. They are living creatures—treat them gently and with respect.
  • Clean mussels. Scrub mussels with a stiff brush under cold running water. Discard any mussels with broken or cracked shells, or any opened mussels that don’t close when you tap their shells. Remove beards which may appear along the hinge side of the shell, using a sharp knife or pulling with your fingers. Set aside in a bowl. One benefit of farmed mussels is that they are generally cleaner than wild caught ones. This is the most time-consuming part of this dish—the rest of it happens quickly.
  • Heat a large, deep, lidded sauté pan or skillet over medium flame. Add olive oil and one tablespoon of butter and swirl pan to combine. Add shallots and garlic and cook until shallots soften, stirring often to avoid browning, about 3 minutes. Add wine, bay leaf and a generous grind of black pepper and bring to a boil. Do NOT add salt—the mussels will add plenty of briny, salty goodness to the sauce. Taste sauce at the very end to see if you need to add salt. We did not. Add mussels to the pan, crowding them in if necessary, cover and cook undisturbed for 4 to 5 minutes. Check to see if the mussels have opened; if most have not, replace the lid and cook just a minute or two longer.
  • Transfer mussels to a large bowl with a slotted spoon, discarding any that have not opened, and cover with a towel to keep warm. Increase heat under pan to high and bring sauce to a boil, letting it cook down just slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining butter in chunks, swirling pan to melt. Stir in parsley and remove from heat. The sauce will be more like a broth than a thickened sauce, which is exactly what you want. Divide mussels among 4 shallow bowls (pasta bowls are perfect for this), spoon sauce over them. Serve with slices of baguette for sopping up the sauce.
  • Pommes Frites. If serving with the mussels, you need to start the frites well in advance, cooking the mussels when the frites are maybe 10 to 15 minutes away from coming out of the oven. And in fact, make the garlic-infused oil for these frites at least several hours in advance. We let ours steep for a couple of days. One recipe called for just using minced garlic, but we find that minced garlic loves to burn in the oven. Besides, using the infused oil makes for a more subtle garlic hit, letting the herbes de Provence take center stage.
  • Make the garlic-infused oil. Bash the garlic cloves with the side of a chef’s knife and discard the skins. Roughly chop garlic and place in a jar. Add olive oil, cover jar with lid and shake for a moment (the jar, not you). Set aside for at least several hours and up to a day or more.
  • Make the frites. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Scrub the potatoes under cold running water. Peel the potatoes if you absolutely must, but the frites are better if you don’t—they look cooler and taste better, and you don’t throw away major nutrients if you leave the skin on. Slice lengthwise into fry-shaped strips. There are handy kitchen gadgets for creating uniform fries, but I like hand-cut fries (my, this is an opinionated recipe, isn’t it?).
  • Soak potato strips in a bowl of cold water for several minutes, changing the water twice, to remove some of the starch. Pat dry and toss with 2 tablespoons of garlic-infused oil (the extra tablespoon was just so you’re not having to squeeze oil from the garlic cloves), salt, pepper and herbes de Provence.
  • Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and roast in oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve.