Our first night on our recent Boulder trip was a birthday celebration for me. We arrived the day after my actual birthday, so Phil made a delicious birthday dinner. It consisted of a great white wine with cheese and olives to start. The dinner that followed was steamed mussels like you've never had before and home made foccaccia bread. Mini cupcakes completed the celebration. Recently Phil has gotten the baking bug, and his foccaccia is the best I've ever had. He says it's easy, but baking scares me. I'll just stick to the food. Here is Phil's recipe for mussels, which although there are a lot of ingredients, is easy to put together in less than 1/2 hour, and it looks and tastes fantastic.
Phil's Steamed Mussels
oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
3 shallots, sliced
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1/2 c. sliced salami
fresh thyme
chili flakes
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups white wine
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can chick peas
sweat the garlic, shallots, and fennel in some oil oil. Add sliced salami, thyme, chili flakes and salt and pepper. Add wine, tomatoes and chick peas. Cook for 5 minutes, then add about 2 lbs washed mussels. Cover pot and cook until mussels open. (should be about 5 minutes). Discard mussels that do not open. Phil served the mussels in a big wide bowl. Make sure each person gets lots of liquid. The foccaccia or other good bread that you serve with the mussels will sop up the liquid. You can complete the meal with a simple green salad. You'll make this and wonder why you never made it before. It's just so easy and delicious.
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