Mixed a few recipes together last night to replicate some awesome mussels we've had at 12th Street Bar & Grill. These things were really great. Mussels were average quality, but in the right season this dish would be totally amazing. Even so, these were the best mussels I've made at home.

I started with 1 onion chopped and four cloves of garlic smashed and minced. These satueed in some oil until soft. Then I added 1/2 cup Sauvigon Blanc and about a 1/4 cup of freshly chopped parsley. I then immediately tossed in 2 lbs of cleaned mussels and covered the pot. This cooked over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the mussels opened up. I then plucked all the mussels out of the pan and placed them in a warmed & covered bowl.

While those were keeping warm, I turned up the heat on the broth. Most recipes called for straining this liquid before you use it, and while I did see some dirt-type residue, I couldn't be bothered to go thru that hassle. So I just added about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of yellow curry powder, a tablespoon of butter, and a 1/4 cup of half and half. I strirred this all up while heating thru for maybe 2-3 minutes. Then I plated the mussels in a large deep serving dish, and poured the curried broth all over them.

We ate this with some crusty French bread I had made the other day (which incidentally was the reason I wanted to make mussels in the firs place), and some tasty French fries I posted earlier. These were very tasty, and pretty easy. The hardest part is cleaning the mussels! And I definitely didn't have to strain that broth... No sand and anything unpleasant. Maybe I'm a really good mussel cleaner, who knows.

Made some fries last night to go with curried mussels. These fries were phenomenal! Crispy. Sea Salty. Yum. Using a mandoline (sp?) makes cutting the potatoes really easy. I peeled 3 russet potatoes, and cut into strips with the mandoline. All perfectly the same thickness. Then washed the potato strips in water 3 or 4 times, and let soak for about 10 minutes in an ice water bath. I heated up 2-3 inches of oil in a big Dutch oven, to about 375. Then you just throw all the fries in there which becomes a bubbling caldren immediatey. Kinda crazy looking. But I cooked these for 10 minutes, and then drained on a cooling rack with wax paper and paper towels underneath. After they cooled for about 20-30 minutes (while I was preparing those mussels), I tossed them back into the still very hot oil and stired them almost constantly for 2-3 minutes untill they were all a nice golden brown. I then drained them on the same cooling rack, and dusted with fresh ground sea salt. Tossed them in a bowl to coat, and served them hot. Really really awesome. I think next time I would pat down the fries after te second fry with a paper towel as they were a touch greasy. But just a touch... Overall these things rocked! And are really kinda easy... Sounds like more work than it was.