We had feed back from one of the merchants who supply the London restaurants .
One of his customers was unhappy because he/they had,had to take off the bysuss thread which the mussels use, to attach themselves to what ever they are growing on.
If you pull out the bysuss which is attached to the mussel internally, you will shorten the mussels life and it will DIE.
The bysuss threads should be removed shortly before they are going to be cooked .
If the removal of the bysuss threads are becoming time consuming ,a Dutch company called Franken BV, manufacture a debysying machine which has contra rotating rollers which have a thread on the roller which will take the hairs off the mussels.
The machines are available in various sizes to suit the different sized restaurants.
Visit the web site www.brixhamseafarmsltd.co.uk where there is a section on looking after your shellfish and the subject of bysuss threads is covered
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Monday, 1 November 2010
Is Dave running scared of the Quango Queens
This headline, in the Saturday 30th October Daily Mail caught my eye
and so I read on.
Quentin Letts column.
Quango Queen 2. Helen Phillips is the £144,000 a year head of Natural
England.
A Tory MP, Ian Liddell-Grainger this week had a terrific go at the environmental quango calling it a “Stalinist organisation” which uses
‘Scare tactics’ against farmers.
Mr Liddell-Grainger accused its acolytes of wearing open- toed sandals and overdue haircuts, but their ‘loony bunny-hugger’ leader was prone
To ‘elegant stiletto- heeled boots’.
Another MP pointed out that Natural England’s staff costs for this year
are £96.5 million?
The Government’s reaction? Farming Minister James Paice meekly said
he would not axe Natural England.
It is gratifying to find that other people think along the same lines regarding Natural England.
Mr Liddell-Grainger could have included brown rice when he commented on the open- toed sandals.
Did I miss something; I was under the impression that Dave was going to sort out the Quangos if he got in? . It looks like yet another empty promise.
and so I read on.
Quentin Letts column.
Quango Queen 2. Helen Phillips is the £144,000 a year head of Natural
England.
A Tory MP, Ian Liddell-Grainger this week had a terrific go at the environmental quango calling it a “Stalinist organisation” which uses
‘Scare tactics’ against farmers.
Mr Liddell-Grainger accused its acolytes of wearing open- toed sandals and overdue haircuts, but their ‘loony bunny-hugger’ leader was prone
To ‘elegant stiletto- heeled boots’.
Another MP pointed out that Natural England’s staff costs for this year
are £96.5 million?
The Government’s reaction? Farming Minister James Paice meekly said
he would not axe Natural England.
It is gratifying to find that other people think along the same lines regarding Natural England.
Mr Liddell-Grainger could have included brown rice when he commented on the open- toed sandals.
Did I miss something; I was under the impression that Dave was going to sort out the Quangos if he got in? . It looks like yet another empty promise.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Lifting out at Baltic Wharf
lift out and transport JJ to Lowestoft
These are some pictures of the lift and fitting JJ onto the lowloader
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Tigres Mussels
We had a couple of vistors to the depuration center and I explained how the systems worked and gave a quick biology lesson on the birds and bees relative to moules
reproduction .The ladies are orange and the males white.!
The conversation got around
to how to cook mussels and I intended to explain how to cook Tigres mussels but had a senior moment when the brain went blank and I could not recall the name Tigres .
The brain has now rebooted and as you can see from the heading to this blog I was trying to recall Tigres Mussels .
Rather than typing in one of the recipes, I recommend you Google, Tigres Mussels.
You will then find the regional variations on preparing this dish.
Bilbao , Madrid , San Sebastion there are variation on a common theme and once you have tried say the Bilbao version you will start to experiment with your own version.
I tried a version of my own on the general public at last years Taste of the West show
which had a black pudding and apple sauce base, a mussel on the base, and a Calvados and creme fraiche topping. They went down very well .
One of the sayings about Tigres Mussels is that you wont find any lurking in the fridge.
Adding some hot chilli either fresh or chilli flakes to the mixture gives them the fire which is where the name Tigres comes from
reproduction .The ladies are orange and the males white.!
The conversation got around
to how to cook mussels and I intended to explain how to cook Tigres mussels but had a senior moment when the brain went blank and I could not recall the name Tigres .
The brain has now rebooted and as you can see from the heading to this blog I was trying to recall Tigres Mussels .
Rather than typing in one of the recipes, I recommend you Google, Tigres Mussels.
You will then find the regional variations on preparing this dish.
Bilbao , Madrid , San Sebastion there are variation on a common theme and once you have tried say the Bilbao version you will start to experiment with your own version.
I tried a version of my own on the general public at last years Taste of the West show
which had a black pudding and apple sauce base, a mussel on the base, and a Calvados and creme fraiche topping. They went down very well .
One of the sayings about Tigres Mussels is that you wont find any lurking in the fridge.
Adding some hot chilli either fresh or chilli flakes to the mixture gives them the fire which is where the name Tigres comes from
jose jacquline the second
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Jose Jacquline the second has been sold and is going to start a new career in Lowestoft.Pictures will be posted in due course when she is loaded up and ready to go.
Jose Jacquline the first went to Crosshaven near Cork in Southern Ireland some years ago,and now JJ 2 is going and hopefully, a new JJ will appear and carry on the cause.
The new JJ will be bigger so that machinery can be fitted on deck and also carry more weight.
In the mean time JB will carry on harvesting the mussels but JB also has restricted deck space and will eventually br replaced
More on this subject to come and in due course an explanation as to why I have not been posting blogs regularly
Jose Jacquline the second has been sold and is going to start a new career in Lowestoft.Pictures will be posted in due course when she is loaded up and ready to go.
Jose Jacquline the first went to Crosshaven near Cork in Southern Ireland some years ago,and now JJ 2 is going and hopefully, a new JJ will appear and carry on the cause.
The new JJ will be bigger so that machinery can be fitted on deck and also carry more weight.
In the mean time JB will carry on harvesting the mussels but JB also has restricted deck space and will eventually br replaced
More on this subject to come and in due course an explanation as to why I have not been posting blogs regularly
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
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
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
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