Seafood Made Simple: Eat local with this recipe for mussels with creamed kale on toast

"Served on thick-cut slices of sourdough toast, this recipe is perfect for a substantial lunch or a light supper." Picture: Chani Anderson

It can be challenging at the best of times to eat and access foods in season. 

When it comes to vegetables this time of year I rely on hearty brassicas like cauliflower, broccoli, cabbages and kales. 

We’ve been getting some gorgeous cavolo nero or Tuscan kale delivered to the restaurant this month grown locally by our friends at Churchfield Community Trust, right across from the Irish Examiner's offices.

In this weekend’s recipe, I’ve used some of this kale as the base for a vivid green sauce to serve with mussels. 

There are also plenty of other varieties available; curly, Russian, Rebor and Sea kale.

Served on thick-cut slices of sourdough toast, this recipe is perfect for a substantial lunch or a light supper.

Toasting sourdough in a pan with butter really takes toast to another level. Making good food great is all about doing the simple things right and treating produce with care.

I promise it’s worth the extra pan in the pile of washing up. Keep the bread moving to mop up all that butter. 

In all honesty, I tend to burn toast when I’m using a toaster. 

A self-confessed control freak, I hate not being able to watch the bread toast and catch it at its most perfect shade of beige or brown or verging on black or however you like it!

I’m a toast enthusiast; one of the most comforting and accessible foods there is it’s a fantastic vessel to use when introducing new foods or flavours.

One of my favourite dishes we make at Goldie is our langoustine and sesame toast. 

First, we make a Japanese milk bread called shokupan; it is sliced and then smeared on each side with a mix of chopped langoustine, garlic, ginger, white pepper and toasted sesame oil before being coated with sesame seeds and pan-fried on both sides.

Mussels with creamed kale on toast

recipe by:Aishling Moore

Served on thick-cut slices of sourdough toast, this recipe is perfect for a substantial lunch or a light supper.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 25 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1kg mussels

• 100ml dry white wine

• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil

• 1 shallot, diced

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced

• 100ml cream

• 250g cavolo nero (kale), washed and chopped

• 2 sprigs parsley, chopped

• 1 lemon, juiced

• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

• To serve:

• 4 thick-cut slices of sourdough bread

• 2 tbsp butter

• Wholegrain mustard

Method

1. Begin by cleaning the mussels. Fill a large bowl with water and add the mussels. Using a small paring knife, remove any barnacles from the shells and the beard of the mussel. The beard is what the mussel uses to attach itself to the surface on which it grows; you’ll find it halfway up the mussel. Rinse the cleaned mussels in a colander and refrigerate until just before cooking.

2. Heat a medium-sized heavy-based saucepan on high. Add the cleaned mussels to the pre-heated pot. Immediately follow with the white wine and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Give the pan a quick shake and allow to cook undisturbed for 3 minutes. Remove the lid and pass the mussels through a colander with a bowl underneath to reserve the stock released from the mussels.

3. Allow to cool.

4. Discard any mussels that haven’t opened.

5. Pick the cooked mussels from their shells and set aside.

6. To make the sauce, heat the rapeseed oil in a medium-sized heavy-based pot on medium-low heat. Add the shallot and garlic and sweat for 4 minutes until softened. Pass the reserved mussel and white wine stock through a fine sieve and add to the pot. Bring to the boil, reduce to approximately 75ml. Add the cream and boil. Reduce by half.

7. Add the kale and parsley to the pot and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and blend with a handheld blender until puréed and vivid green. Taste to season. Return the pot of puréed kale to the heat and add the mussels to warm through.

8. Finish with the juice of a lemon, black pepper and sea salt flakes.

9. To make the toast, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan on a medium-low heat. Add the sourdough and keep it moving to mop up the butter on both sides.

10. Top the toast with the mussel sauce and a spoonful of wholegrain mustard on the side.

Fish tales

 

• Mussels should only be cooked when alive so discard any that have cracked shells or do not close when tapped. They should smell fresh and of the seaside.
• When seasoning shellfish, it’s very important to taste before you add any salt. Mussels are naturally high in salt. In this recipe the mussel stock is reduced, which intensifies both the salinity and flavour.
• This sauce is also delicious folded through linguini or spaghetti.
• You can swap the kale for spinach or watercress and parsley for basil or chives.
• If you’d rather not go to the hassle of picking mussels from their shells reserve half of the mussel and white wine stock and add along with the mussels at the same stage of the recipe to warm through.