Bang Island Mussels with a fennel, saffron & black peppercorn broth

I chose this dish for my first post because it is one of my all time favorite appetizers and it reminds me of summer; which I think we could all use a little taste of right now.  For me it is the ultimate Maine dish. It's simple yet elegant and it is a great starter for almost any meal.  I have made these at home, over a camp fire in Moosehead and sitting on the beach at Pine Point watching the sunset on a hot Maine summer night.  This dish is so easy, you could make them just about anywhere.

These are Bang Island blue mussels farmed and harvested right here in Casco Bay.  They are some of the best in the world and you will find them on the appetizer/starter menus of many restaurants throughout the State of Maine.  There are a million different ways to prepare the broth but today I have chosen to use a few of my favorite ingredients to pair with these blue beauties.

Here I have Chinese rice wine, black pepper corns, sea salt, sweet cream butter made with sea salt, saffron, a whole sliced fennel bulb, lemon, garlic and pea shoots to garnish.

The first order of business is to clean your mussels.

I have 4 pounds of mussels that I purchased at Harbor Fish Market on Custom House Warf on Portland's waterfront.  I am cleaning them by soaking them in water and a splash of rice wine vinegar.  Any vinegar will do but I always have rice wine vinegar on hand.  I let them soak for about 10 to 15 minutes and then I rinse and remove them from the water.  I inspect them and discard any that are already open or cracked.  If they have opened or have been cracked prior to being cooked they may no longer be alive and are not safe to eat.

While the mussels soak I start to prepare my broth.  In a large dutch oven, I add 3 cups of water, a table spoon of Chinese rice wine, a table spoon of sea salt, a table spoon of  fresh cracked black pepper and a couple of pinches of the saffron threads.  A little bit of saffron goes a long way; which is perfect because it is expensive!

After rinsing and inspecting my mussels, I add them to the seasoned water and top them with the sliced fennel bulb, two cloves of garlic, a half a stick of butter, the juice and the zest of the lemon, and a little more fresh cracked pepper and sea salt.  I add these ingredients on top of the mussels rather than to the seasoned water below so that all of the flavors drip down into the mussel shells as they begin to open while being steamed.  

I cover the dutch oven and steam the mussels over medium high heat until all of the shells have opened.  With a couple of large spoons I give the mussels and other ingredients a quick toss to incorporate all of the ingredients and let them steam for a few seconds longer.  I remove the mussels from the pot and leave the broth to simmer and reduce for another 5 minutes or so.  

To serve, place a good helping of mussels into individual bowls or small crocks, ladle the broth down over the mussels in the bowl and garnish with some fresh pea shoots.  The combination of the clean crisp broth with the freshness of the pea shoots and the briny goodness of the mussels will bring just enough Maine summer to your taste buds to get you through the rest of this grueling winter.

I hope you enjoy!