Stuffed mussels with muscat / moules farcies au muscat

(serves 2 - 4 personnes)

1 kg mussels / moules

100 gm breadcrumbs / chapelure

3 cloves garlic, chopped / gousses d'ail coupées

parsley + thyme / persille + thym

sel, poivre,

1 large glass muscat (Rivesaltes or other sweet wine / un grand verre de muscat (de Rivesaltes ou d'un autre vin doux)

olive oil / huile d'olive

Clean the mussels / nettoyer les moules.

Bring them to the boil slowly and cook until the shells open / Faire les bouiller lentement et cuire jusqu'à elles s'ouvrent.

Remove the half shells without mussels / Enlever les demie-coquilles sans moules.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the chopped garlic, parsley and thyme, salt and pepper / melanger la chapelure, l'ail, le persille et le thym coupés, le sel et le poivre.

Cover the mussels with the breadcrumb mix / Couvrir les moules du mélange de chapelure.

Pour a teaspoonful of muscat into each shell / Verser une petite cuillerée de muscat dans chaque coquille.

Drizzle with olive oil / Verser un peu de l'huile d'olive sur toutes les moules.

Put under the grill for 5 - 10 minutes until the breadcrumbs are crisp / Griller pour 5 - 10 minutes jusqu'à la chapelure soit croustillante.

Serve with a slice of lemon / servir garnies d'une tranche de citron.

Squid rings in batter / calamares à la romaine

 

(serves 2)

1 medium squid

for the batter:

25 gm chick pea flour

25 gm white flour

salt

water

chopped parsley

Make the batter by mixing the flours and salt with enough water to make a batter the consistency of single cream.

Clean the squid and remove the skin and quill.  Slice into rings about 1/2 cm wide.

Dry the squid rings with kitchen paper.  This is important as the batter will not stick if the rings are too wet.

Dip the squid rings in the batter and fry in olive oil in a heavy frying pan until browned and crisp.  Serve hot with a slice of lemon and chopped parsley.

This is a very common dish, a seaside treat served, often with chips, at cafés all around the Mediterranean, but it is even more delicious made freshly at home with this chick pea flour batter.  You can also serve squid rings with mayonnaise or aïoli - see the recipe for aïoli on Olives and Artichokes.