Sunday, February 27, 2011

An Economical Yet Elegant Oscar Night Dinner

Our oceans rivers and streams provide us with so much nourishment,lets treat them with respect
     It’s a red carpet night at out house and it has nothing to do with the Oscar ceremony on television. We are preparing mussels in garlic white wine lemon butter sauce and serving it over homemade pasta. We saw some beautiful mussels in the market today and decided to put the regularly scheduled meal on hold. This afternoon I quickly prepared pasta dough that I rolled out just before dinner. It  cooked in minutes and provided the perfect complement to the fresh mussels. This simple and economical dish was truly an elegant feast for two. I donned my fanciest pajamas poured, a glass of wine, served our red carpet meal and settled in to watch, at least part of the Oscars.
Cook with wines you'd actually enjoy drinking, They don't have to be expensive
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 large shallot (minced)
Red pepper flake
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pot herbs
1 ½ cups white wine (a good bottle found on sale) 
1.25 Lbs Mussels 
Homemade pasta (flour egg oil water) 

Making pasta is easy and delicious
Add butter and oil to the pan
Lightly sauté the garlic and shallot
Add the white wine and lemon juice
Bring to a boil
Add the cleaned scrubbed mussels.
add pot herbs pepper & salt
(Make sure mussels are closed before cooking and review mussel safety)
(if they won’t close prior to cooking toss then out and don’t eat them)
Cover and let the cook/steam till all are open (about 5 minutes or so)
(If any mussels don't open throw away)
Fresh pasta cooks quickly and tastes terrific
Serve over fresh pasta and use plenty of wine garlic lemon butter sauce
Serve with crusty bread to mop up the leftover sauce
Total under $11.00 for this Oscar night feast
  red carpet comfort food
TIP OF THE DAY: If you see an ingredient that inspires you use it. Don’t waste what you have on hand but if possible put it on hold. The butternut squash risotto I had planned will easily keep till another day

2 comments:

Native Gardener said...

Sounds delicious! I have never prepared mussels, but might give it a go. Also, on making your own pasta dough, have you ever made pasta using gluten-free flour?

Vagablonde said...

Give it a try sometime and let me know what you think. Will try the GF flour too