A delicious and quick dinner for a week night or dinner party, Mussels with Apples are sure to please. Steamed in a light cream sauce with apples and apple brandy for an amazing flavor combination. On the table in 20 minutes start to finish.
Every time I go into WholeFoods and pass the seafood section they almost always have mussels on ice and I think, why don’t I make mussels more often. While I love seafood, oysters require a little work unless you’re eating them raw, which is not my thing, but mussels are not only delicious but so easy to make. Seriously they take no work and steam in about 5 minutes at the most. Talk about a quick week night dinner!
This recipe is a stepped up version form my basic recipe, Mussels with Vermouth and Tarragon, so it takes a few more minutes, but with bacon, apples, cream and apple brandy, the extra ten minutes is worth it. If you like mussels, which I assume you do if you’ve read this far into the post, you will really impress your friends and family with this recipe.
You might be thinking, who has apple brandy, trust me you should have some. I bought a bottle for less than $10 a year or so ago and it’s a game changer for anything with cooked apples. Just try throwing in a tablespoon or two to your apple pie or any baked apple recipe. It just brightens up the flavor of the apples. It’s great added to Fried Apples or Apple Hand Pies. When added to the shallots, mushrooms and apples, the alcohol cooks off and leaves the slightly sweet flavor of the brandy. This dish is still fabulous if you don’t happen to have a bottle of apple brandy around, but next time you’re in the liquor store, grab a bottle to use for your apple recipes.
How to cook mussels:
When you’re making mussels, you want to have everyone ready to eat before you add them to the pot, because they’ll steam open in about 3-5 minutes depending on how large they are. Mussels are not particularly good cold, you need to eat them right away. The sauce will coat up to 4 lbs, but that’s a lot of mussels, so I use the same base for 2-3 lbs. of mussels, more sauce is never a bad thing.
It’s a very simple recipe, just brown some bacon, remove it from the pan and add shallots mushrooms and apple chunks and cook until the apples are tender. Then add the magical apple brandy and cream. Once it comes to a boil, add the mussels and let them steam in the creamy broth until they open, serve with the cooked bacon on top. A baguette is a great choice so you can soak up the yummy sauce.
This is a great recipe for friends when you don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen. Next time you’re trying to decide what to make for dinner, grab some mussels and give this recipe a try.
Adapted from Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook
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Mussels with Apples
Ingredients
- 4 slices Thick sliced bacon cut into 1 inch cubes
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 4 ounces mushrooms thinly sliced
- ½ apple peeled, coored and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3 ounces Apple Brandy
- 1 cup cream
- salt and pepper
- 4 lbs mussels/clams scrubbed
Instructions
- 1.In a small skillet, cook the bacon over medium high heat until brown. Reserve to a paper towel lined plate.
- 2.In a large pot, heat butter until it’s bubbly, add the sliced shallots and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and apples and cook until the apples are tender but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Add apple brandy and stir to get bits of the bottom off the pan. Add cream and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
- 3.Once the cream mixture has come to a boil, add mussels and cover, shaking to coat with cream mixture. Cook until all the mussels have opened, about 5-10 minutes. Shake throughout to coat mussels with cream mixture. Serve sprinkled with bacon.
Nutrition
Mussels with Apples
Ingredients
- 4 slices Thick sliced bacon cut into 1 inch cubes
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 4 ounces mushrooms thinly sliced
- ½ apple peeled, coored and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3 ounces Apple Brandy
- 1 cup cream
- salt and pepper
- 4 lbs mussels/clams scrubbed
Instructions
- 1.In a small skillet, cook the bacon over medium high heat until brown. Reserve to a paper towel lined plate.
- 2.In a large pot, heat butter until it’s bubbly, add the sliced shallots and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and apples and cook until the apples are tender but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Add apple brandy and stir to get bits of the bottom off the pan. Add cream and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
- 3.Once the cream mixture has come to a boil, add mussels and cover, shaking to coat with cream mixture. Cook until all the mussels have opened, about 5-10 minutes. Shake throughout to coat mussels with cream mixture. Serve sprinkled with bacon.
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