Gary
Rhodes
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Spiced
crème
fraiche
mussels with a nutty mango and cos
heart salad
The spicy edge to the crème fraiche is curry paste,
the paste and cream simmered together in this recipe with the mussel
juices. The nuts are Fairtrade cashews and I’ve selected small cos for
the salad, using mostly the heart leaves.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1kg (2 ¼ lb) fresh
mussels
1 teaspoon medium curry paste
100g (4oz) crème fraiche
Salt and pepper
75g (3oz) unsalted Fairtrade cashew nuts, roughly chopped
2 small Fairtrade mangoes, or 1 large, peeled and chopped
2 small Cos lettuce, leaves separated
1 tablespoon of finely chopped chives
1 lime, quartered
Olive oil, for drizzling
Method:
To clean the mussels, scrub the shells in cold water, scraping off any
barnacles and pulling away the beards. If any mussels are slightly
open, a short, sharp tap, should make them close, letting you know they
are still alive. Any that don’t close should be discarded.
Heat a large saucepan on top of the stove. Add the mussels with a few
tablespoons of water. Cover with a lid, and cook over a high heat for
3-5 minutes, shaking the pan and stirring the mussels from time to time
until the shells have opened.
Strain in a colander, saving all of the juices except the last couple
of tablespoons that tend to be gritty. Once slightly cooled, remove the
mussels from their shells, discarding any that have not opened.
Warm 100ml of the saved mussel juices, and whisk in the curry paste.
Simmer for a few minutes before whisking in the crème fraiche.
Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Scatter the cos leaves, chopped cashew nuts and chopped mango in the
centre of the serving plates. Quickly warm the mussels in the spicy
crème fraiche sauce, stir in the chopped chives and spoon over
the leaves, nuts and mango. Drizzle with a drop or two of olive oil and
a squeeze of lime.
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