Tarte aux Moules

Tarte aux Moules

I cam across this recipe in one of Rick Steins cook books, and on checking for recipes on the web found plenty of other versions of this Tarte, both French and English.
This Tarte sounded very interesting and so with direction from my better half we made a Tarte aux Moules which was a success.
This is Rick Stein’s version of Tarte aux Moules made with local mussels, cream
Butter encased in crisp brown buttery pastry.

900gms (2lbs) mussels cleaned
50ml(2 fl oz) dry white wine
3 tablespoons of chopped parsley
keep the stalks
25 gms (1oz) butter
5-6 shallots finely chopped
5 garlic cloves
3 eggs beaten
300ml (10fl oz) double cream
salt and pepper

For the pastry
225gms(8oz ) plain flour
1/2 oz salt
65gms (2,1/2oz) chilled butter cut into pieces
65gms (2.1/2oz) chilled lard cut into pieces
1. 1/2 tablespoons of water
1 egg white

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400F
For the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a food processor or a mixing bowl, add the chilled butter and lard and work together until the mixture looks like
Fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the water with a table knife until it comes together into a ball.
Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly until smooth. Roll out and use to line a 25 cm (10 inch) loose bottom flan tin, 4cms (1.1/2) deep. Prick the base here and there with a fork and chill for 20 minutes.
Line the pastry case with a sheet of crumpled greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and return the pastry to the oven for 5 minutes.
Remove once more and brush the base with the unbeaten egg white. Return to the oven for 1 minute, and then remove.
Put the mussels into a large pan with the wine and parsley stalks. Cover and cook over a high heat
For 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan every now and then until the mussels have opened.
Tip them into a colander set over a bowl to catch the cooking liquor. Leave to cool and then remove the mussels from the shells discarding any that do not open.
Melt the butter in a pan, add the shallots and garlic and cook gently for about 7 minutes until
Very soft. Add all but the last tablespoon of mussel cooking liquor ands simmer rapidly until it has evaporated. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool. Then stir in the beaten egg, cream, parsley and season to taste with a little pepper and salt if needed.
Scatter the mussels over the pastry base and pour in the egg mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 190C/375F until just set and lightly browned. Leave to cool slightly before serving.
This is Rick Steins recipe and it is a very tasty Tarte
In one of the French versions of this tarte they had added a little curry paste , other English versions have potatoe in the filling with the mussels

JB harvesting

This is the JB harvesting mussels

Obelisk at Conwy

We came across this Obelisk on the Quay at Conwy, it is a column of mussels created from Welsh black marble . Not too many to the kilo!

Scallops(Mussels) and Black Pudding served with Apple Chutney.

This recipe for Scallops and Black Pudding served with Apple Chutney sounded interesting and I tried it using large Mussels .
The recipe became Mussels sat on a Black Pudding and Apple sauce bed with a
Calvados and Crème Fraishe topping.
At the Taste of the West show at Westpoint Exeter we tried them out on the general public and the reaction was favourable so here is the original recipe using Scallops

Scallops and Black Pudding served with Apple Chutney.
For four people

12 scallops (3-4 scallops per person for a main course)(not applicable in Brixham)
(2 scallops for a starter)(????)
3-4 slices of best quality ,Black Pudding per person for a main course (2 for a starter).
Olive oil for frying
3 tablespoons apple chutney mixed with 2 tablespoons of cream
2 tablespoons of crème fraiche.
1 tablespoon of Calvados
Pepper
Chopped Parsley/Chives

Preheat the oven to 140 C
Mix the Apple Chutney with 2 Tablespoons of cream. Strain to remove lumps
Heat oil in pan and fry black pudding
Keep warm in preheated oven
Wipe the pan with a kitchen towel and add some more olive oil
Heat over a low heat and gently cook the scallops
Once cooked ,throw in the Calvados and flambé. When the flames have died down, remove the scallops and place in the oven.
Add the chutney sauce to the pan, some freshly ground pepper and the crème fraiche, reheat gently.

Place a slice of black pudding in the middle of the plate with a scallop on top .
Pour the cream and chutney sauce over and decorate with some chopped parsley/chives.

Oyster Kilpatrick

Nephew Fraser visited from Oz, and recommended Oyster Kilpatrick as a popular Oyster recipe down under in Sydney ,
Looking at this recipe it sounds interesting .
We have some excellent Oysters , phone the yard to order and try this recipe from down under .

Ingredients
24 fresh oysters in their shells shucked
Rock salt
1Tablespoon of Worcester shire sauce
30 grammes of butter
4 slices of bacon rind and fat removed finely chopped
Sea salt to taste
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of flat leaf parsley chopped
Lemon wedges to serve

Directions

Preheat the grill to the hottest temperature
Arrange the Oysters on a bed of rock salt,
In a large shallow ovenproof dish
Combine the Worcestershire sauce and butter in a
Small saucepan and heat the butter until it melts and the mixture
Begins to bubble around the edges of the saucepan.
Remove from the heat.
Spoon a little of the Worcestershire sauce and butter mixture
Over each Oyster and top evenly with the diced bacon, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cook under a preheated grill for 3-4 minutes ,or until the bacon is crisp.
Sprinkle with parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.

Bothy Oysters

Ingredients.

4 Oysters shucked, reserving the juice and shells.
4 x 30-50 gms (4 x 1-2 ozs) slices of black pudding.
2x5 ml spoon (2 tea spoons) apple sauce.
Salt and Black Pepper.
50ml (2 fl oz) malt whisky.
30 gms (1oz) Highland cheddar cheese.
Serves 2

Method.
Microwave power 800 watt
Preheat the grill
Microwave black pudding for 1 minute.
Remove skin and mix with the apple sauce, salt and
black pepper.

Poach the oysters for 1 minute in their own juice along with the whisky.
Remove the oysters and set aside.

Add whisky liquid to black pudding mixture and beat well.

Shave a few fine slices of cheese using a vegetable peeler.

Place 2-3 x 5ml spoon (2-3 teaspoons)of black pudding mixture
into each oyster shell. Top with an Oyster and cover with cheese shavings .

Grill for 1-2 minutes until the cheese melts.

Serve with lemon wedges and more malt whisky.

Original Seafish recipe.

Spaghetti Cozze e Zafferano GranSapore

An Italian national translated this recipe from the back of the packet of Saffron .Spaghetti with Mussels,and Saffron.
Its a bit vague as it does not give any weights, but if you are an Italian this would be perfectly natural, as you would know how much to put in from watching your mother and how long to cook it. (This is my excuse )
Clean the mussels . Cook the spaghetti al dente (little hard inside). Chop the garlic into slices . Dissolve the Saffron into a little hot water.
In a hot pan put the olive oil,garlic and the mussels until they are well open. Add salt and pepper.Add the Saffron.Add the spaghetti and cook everything for a couple of minutes. Serve with Parsley.
Not a lot you can say about this recipe !!!.

The one that nearly got away.

This Octopus had idea's on escaping from the market stall in Marsaxlokk when we visited the Sunday market.
The Maltese stall holder had different idea's , and scooped the Octopus up and put it back in the tray with the other Octopuses
plural Octopi,or Octopodes.

elberry cove mussels

29-4-09
The first test after the layoff to allow the mussel to recover from spawning was extremely promising. Six average size mussels weigh 100 grammes and after one and a half minutes in the microwave at medium power the meat weight yeild was 40 grammes .
This is 40 % meat content which is an exceptional recovery due no doubt to the plentiful supply of phytoplankton (food source) circulating in Torbay.
We propose to bring in the first tank full after the May day bank holiday to test whether the mussels are robust enough to go through the depuration process.
The alternative mussels will still be available, until either they go through their spawning process, or the Elberry Cove Mussels are back in full production .

Spaghetti Cozze e Zafferano Gran Sapora

Browsing in a well known German supermarket in Malta I came across a small packet which had the word Zafferano, underneath the word was Gran Sapore .It had a picture of a flower on the front.On the back of the packet were what appeared to be two recipe's in Italian. One recipe was Spaghetti Cozze e Zafferano Gran Sapore.
Eventually the penny dropped, that the packet had three sachets of Saffron inside .
Enquiring in an Italian restaurant what was the word for mussels in Italian, they are known as Cozze.
i need to translate this recipe before I put it up on line; one of the Maltese managed a sort of translation but not that you could work with, so it will be up in the future.

However here is a recipe for Garlic and lemon mussels from an Italian cookbook I found in Malta

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1kg Mussels (Cozze)
6 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 chilli sliced
half a bunch of basil roughly chopped
4 Roma tomatoes (plum)
1 cup of white wine
1 teaspoon of salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon cut in wedges

1 Heat the oil in a heavy based sauce pan until almost smoking. Add the mussels, they should make a popping noise when they hit the hot oil, cook for 1 minute.
2 Add the garlic, chilli, basil, tomatoes, and white wine. Cover with a lid and cook for a further 4 minutes.
3 Discard any mussel which do not open during cooking.Season with salt and pepper. Serve with lemon wedges

When will they be ready?

We estimate the middle of May will be the earliest time that the mussels will have recovered when they will have a minimum of 30% meat content.
Contact the factory 01803843080 for the current situation regarding mussel supplies
We currently have Manilla Clams (Palourdes )nice quality coming from the South Coast excellent for Paella's etc
Oysters 80-110 grammes from Bigbury Bay , look after them and they are good for a week
We are hoping to have a source of cockles in May, contact the factory for an update if you are into Paella.s
Recipes coming later. Rob from the Nautilus in Teignmouth has a nice one with Thai green curry with our mussels .

The spring equinox and spawning time for Mejillones

Being wise after the event is not an option when mussels are about to spawn . In our case the decision was taken on 27-3-09
not to harvest and as it turned out it was fortuitous, as mussel which had been collected on Saturday 28-3-09 for the Taste of the West show at West-point Exeter when cooked produced 20% meat content. If the decision had been to continue harvesting it would have needed 20% more mussels in a sack to achieve the correct weight.
Normally spawning would have occurred during the high tides when the larvae would have drifted further , but probably due to the sea temperatures being down for the time of year they had waited until the sea temperature was correct, which would appear to have been the weekend 27-28th March .