I love mussels. They’re cheap, super easy to make and they elevate your dining experience at home. Even if you’re not a seafood fan, you can just grab some grilled bread and dip it into the creamy broth. Grab the recipe and some behind the scenes photography tips while you’re here!
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Photography Tips for Sailor-Style Mussels
SHOOT OVERHEAD
How a dish is plated can guide you to what angle will be best to shoot it at. Since mussels usually are prepared in a large dutch oven, I figured the best way to shoot them would be overhead. I loved how gorgeous they looked in my beautiful red dutch oven! The color pop was a really fun touch for this shot. I also tore out pages from an old cooking magazine for some unique surface texture and used an old dark cloth. Read more about my awesome overhead setup.
USE A GOOD LENS
I used my 50mm 1.8 lens which is a wonderful lens for all kinds of food shots ranging from overhead, angled and straight on. You can read more about some of my favorite lenses for food photography here.
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Recipe Notes for Mussels
HOMEMADE MAYO
The key to this awesome recipe is to make your own mayo. Sometimes I cut corners and buy store-bought items to save time, but I’m so glad I didn’t do that for this recipe. Homemade mayo is really easy to make and comes together very quickly. It also combines with the broth really well, whereas store-bought mayo won’t be as easy to mix with the broth. It’s definitely worth the (minor) extra effort.
Happy Cooking!
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You Might Also Like: Grilled Head On Prawns
Sailor-Style Mussels
Ingredients
For the Two-Minute Mayo:
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
- Kosher salt
For the Mussels:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 leek white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 4 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt & pepper
- 1.5 cups dry white wine
- 2 pounds mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
- 2 to 3 tablespoons homemade, two-minute mayonnaise (see ingredients above)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, minced
- Additional homemade mayonnaise for serving
- 1 loaf rustic bread, thickly sliced, grilled and drizzled with olive oil
Instructions
For the Two-Minute Mayo:
- Place egg yolk, water, lemon juice, and mustard in the bottom of an immersion blender cup.
- Pour oil on top and allow to settle for 15 seconds.
- Place head of immersion blender at bottom of cup and switch it on.
- As mayonnaise forms, slowly tilt and lift the head of the immersion blender until all oil is emulsified. 5. Season mayonnaise to taste with salt.
- Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
For the Mussels:
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large pot over medium-low heat.
- Add leeks, shallot, garlic, and bay leaves.
- Season lightly with salt and heavily with black pepper and cook, stirring, until vegetables are very soft but not browned, about 10 minutes.
- Increase heat to high and add white wine.
- Bring to a boil and let reduce by half, about 2 minutes.
- Add mussels, stir, cover, and cook, shaking pan constantly and peeking every 30 seconds to stir.
- As soon as all the mussels are open, transfer mussels to a bowl using tongs.
- Place pot lid over bowl to keep mussels warm.
- Remove pot from heat and whisk in remaining butter along with homemade mayonnaise. Store-bought mayo won’t combine with the sauce very well.
- Return mussels to pot, add parsley, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir to combine.
- Transfer to a warm serving bowl.
- Serve immediately with grilled bread.
Notes
Adapted from Serious Eats.
This post contains affiliate links which means if you click or make a purchase through my site, I might make a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only promote products that I actually use and support.
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All images © Regan Baroni 2015.
I love mussels! I need to try making mayo and adding it to the broth like this recipe. It sounds like it would be rich and delicious. Beautiful photos as always!
Thank you, Sonja! I always love your comments! I hope you enjoy the recipe!
xo