Baked Mussels…

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Every once in a while, our cook warns me about various odds and ends I have hanging out in the refrigerators and freezers… She gets exasperated when there are too many half used packets of this and that. That’s when I go into a “leftovers frenzy” and sometimes the results are appalling, while some other times, like this one, they are really surprisingly good, thank you. :) The ingredients were some 600-700 grams of small New Zealand mussel meats only, packaged in bulk, a third of a queso de bola (salty edam cheese), some tomato paste and about of cup of white wine remaining in a bottle that had been in the fridge for weeks!

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I sauteed up a large onion, minced with several cloves of garlic, minced in about 1/3 cup of butter and a few tablespoons of olive oil. Yes, the outrageous amounts of butter were intentional. Next I added some chopped fresh tomatoes, the tomato paste (2 tablespoons or so) and mixed this over medium heat. I added in the wine and let that cook for a minute or two. Next the mussels and seasoned generously with salt and pepper and some red pepper flakes. When the sauce had thickened up, I placed all of this on a foil-line baking sheet and added generous amounts of grated queso de bola on top. Not a light dusting, a GENEROUS amount of cheese. :)

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Stick this pan under the broiler for a few minutes, watching carefully until the cheese starts to bubble and caramelize. Remove from the oven, and sprinkle some chopped parsley on top. Serve with toast points or hard bread and don’t forget to scoop up that heavenly tomato-ey butter at the bottom of the pan. This was crazy easy to make, and absolutely delicious. This pan easily served 8-10 people appetizers before lunch, and the total cost of the dish couldn’t have been more than say PHP500 or PHP50-60 per person. :)

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17 Responses

  1. Oooh… I have all those bits and bobs hanging around inside our fridge too! Will try this out :)

  2. Baked Tahong is always my favorite as appetizer or pulutan. Will try your new recipe using local mussels on their shells to catch all the yummy sauce. Thank you for sharing.

  3. This will do great as a pasta sacue too!! Butter + cheese the unholy duo which makes everything taste good.

  4. Thanks MM. At home, adobong tahong is really a hit.
    I will try this recipe and for sure my family will love it, too!

  5. @Zehro => you’re right! Makes me hungry again even if I just had my lunch. :-)

  6. Gratins are always the best solution for leftovers/scraps. As a general rule:

    – savoury and vegetal leftovers are bound with bechamel or a cheats version using canned or powdered soup + starch + milk. Cheese on top or simply egg + diluted bechamel.

    – sweet and fruity leftovers are bound in cooked custard with meringue on top. Alternatively, baked to dry a little before adding into a butter cake base.

  7. This is great with pasta. I’d would love to try this in my kitchen. Anyway, what is the difference between the imported from the local tahong in terms of taste and texture?
    P.S. I hope I can taste Zubuchon lechon again ,this time in Manila naman. Thanks, Marketman!

  8. hi mm! love these kinda of recipes. makes me feel like even someone with seriously deficient cooking skills i.e. me can make it. I recently tried your poached salmon with yoghurt and dill sauce and not only was it easy enough to prepare, it was a hit!

  9. Hi MM! I bought NZ mussels before but I didn’t like it because they were big! I was hoping I can get something that is medium sized. Am afraid to buy tahong from the market.

  10. I get serious and explosive gastric upset with the large NZ mussels and avoid them like the plague, but I tolerate the smaller cultured ones which I prepare Thai style : simply steamed then removed from the shell and dressed with patis- lime- sugar dressing and julienned cucumber. But I generally avoid them if the source is questionable ( concerns with red tide and hepatitis).

  11. Don’t want to speculate on anybody’s age here but after a certain age, certain food items become your enemy. It is kernel corn for me. Likely the reason why cream of corn is generally viewed as gizzard food by the young.

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