I had some leftover pâte brisée that I didn’t want to throw away, so here we go…of course, you can replace mussels with scallops or shrimps. This is just very easy to make and the use of those mini tarts are versatile. I ate eight of them for lunch with a salad, but obviously those types of bites are more appropriate for entertaining as a pass-on appetizer or on a buffet display, than as a main course…besides no one would eat those as a main course, unless very hungry and nothing else to eat.

I have to say that I am still hungry so I could have easily eaten some extras, but no no, let’s stay moderate especially when pâte brisée has some nice amount of butter, like this one. Usually I make dough with olive oil, but this one is the traditional pâte brisée. Well, a small amount of butter never killed anyone, so let’s be kind to butter and not demonize it.

This is a very short story: 1) Left over pâte brisée, 2) little time to cook and 3) hunger, there is nothing else and nothing exciting behind those tartlets. Well, yes there are my adorable and colorful mini molds I brought back from France. They are quite small, about 1.5 inch diameter, you can see the mussel fit right in.

Ingredients for about 30-40 bites or 6 people

For the pate brisée (traditional)

•  8.8 oz (or 250 g) flour
• 1 yolk
• 4.4 oz (or 125 g) butter, diced
• one pinch salt
• a few tbs water

For the filling

• 30-40 mussels
• 2 tbs fromage blanc or thick yogurt such as greek yogurt
• 6.7 fl oz (or 20 cl) crème fraȋche
• 1 tbs parsley
• a few drops of meyer lemon juice
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pâte brisée

In a mixing container, add flour, yolk, a pinch salt, water and butter. Mix all ingredients together carefully to incorporate butter but do not mix too much or the dough will break apart when rolling it. Form a ball, and wrap in plastic. Let rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

For the filling

Heat olive oil in a pan, add mussels, stir for a few minutes, then add yogurt and cream, lemon juice, parsley salt and pepper. Stir for a few more minutes, then remove from heat.

Roll dough in a flat surface and using a cookie ring, cut out circles to fill your molds. Add one mussel in each mold and fill it with cream/yogurt mixture.

Cook in a pre heated oven at 370F for about 20 minutes or until the tartlets are nice and lightly brown.

This is probably my last post before I fly to France, next week. I have to fly for family reasons and looking forward to it. June in France is my favorite month, the days are long and it’s still light until 10 pm. Since my mom will be in the hospital, I will have to cook for my father and I am trying to find some exciting recipes for him to enjoy. I think this one will be one among others. The difference is that I will be using “Moules de Bouchot” instead of American mussels.

In France, moules de bouchot are grown in Brittany and Normandy, they’re considered to be the best of all mussels. They’re small but with a very flavorful and delicate meat. These mussels are grown in on a wooden pole in the ocean and in a way to keep predators away. If you speak French here is some interesting information on how they are farmed.

The mussels I used were bigger than moules de bouchot nonetheless very tasty. Leeks and fish or seafood are wonderful combined together, so in this recipe it’s all enhanced by a spicy curry sauce. The curry flavor is not too strong since it’s infused with the cream and gives this gratin a little exotic touch without empowering it.

The world of gratin is infinite, so you could of course, substitute mussels with white fish or even scallops, it’s all up to your imagination and to your taste buds.

Ingredients for 2

• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 leeks, chopped
• about 20 mussels (depending on the size)
• 1 tbs mild curry powder
• 4 tbs heavy cream
• salt and pepper

For the topping

• 5 tbs panko breadcrumbs
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbs parsley, chopped
• 1 tbs cilantro, chopped
• 3 tbs olive oil
• chili powder (to taste)
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Steam mussels in a large pot, when they open, remove from shell and keep the juice. Remove the mussel meat from the shells and set aside.

Prepare topping mixing all ingredients together in a mixing container.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallot and let it sweat, add the leeks, salt and pepper and let ccok for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Add mussel juice and let reduce. Add curry powder, mix well, then add mussels and cream. Let the cream reduce slightly then divide in two recipients.

Add one layer of the topping. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 20 minutes, until the crust turns golden.

Serve hot with a mâche salad.

A la pêche aux moules, moules, moules, je ne veux plus y aller maman, les gens de la ville, ville, ville, m’ont pris mon panier… despite mon panier, I still want to go mussel fishing!

I am afraid I cannot stop eating seafood, it’s becoming an obsessive compulsive thing, I somehow realized the more you do something, the more you want to keep doing it…and right now I am dealing with eating mussels or anything that looks like a mussel (so clams are included in it). I promise this will be the last seafood dish for a little while, unless I am unable to control my seafood compulsion and if I come to that point, I think I will have to start doing yoga or meditation.

I have been to my favorite store this weekend to the other side of the Bay and loaded my cart with so many wonderful goodies I thought I would never find. I think the day I will leave the Bay Area, I will miss this store so much, because at this point I have not seen something that amazing and exciting anywhere else, not even in any European city…just Berkeley, California. Berkeley I salute you.

Mussels are so popular in Mediterranean cuisine, and moules marinières, probably the most common way to prepare mussels in Belgium (and in France too), and are on every menu of any French restaurant in the US. So enough of moules marinières, and let’s add un “petit piment” in our mussels. Dans la vie, il faut du piment!, we need some spice in your life, don’t we?

Leeks and mussels go so well together, and here the broth is enhanced by lemon juice and chili, with a dash of beer, what a flavorful combination. I usually count 2 lbs of mussels per person, depending if you serve mussels as an appetizer or main course and the appetite of your guests.

Ingredients for 2

• 2 lbs mussels
• 1 lb clams
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 leek, chopped
• chili flakes
• juice of one lemon
• a dash of beer (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 tbs parsley, chopped
• 1/2 tsp basil, chopped
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a large pot, heat 1 tbs olive oil. Add shallots and garlic, stir and let it brown for a few minutes. Add leeks and cook until tender, then add chili flakes.  Add mussels and clams to the pot. Stir well, adjust with salt and pepper.

After the mussels and clams are half open, add beer. Mix well. Cover and let the mussels cook until they open completely. Add lemon juice and 1 tbs olive oil, stir and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, at the end at parsley and basil.

Sometimes, you just have to treat yourself…today was my treat day and I really enjoyed it to the fullest. Treating for me has to do with seafood, so those wonderful coquilles (shells) made my day.  I have a friend over for dinner tonight who relocated from Hawaii and who is having a difficult time adjusting to San Francisco life. It’s a definitely a wonderful city but tough, it certainly can be difficult to find a decent place to live, a good job, find friends, etc…so I wanted to make something that would make her feel good, unfortunately I did not have enough seafood to make those coquilles for everyone. Entertaining is a wonderful remedy for all kinds of diseases, don’t you think? For both, the one who cooks and the one who eats.

Anyway we have this traditional seafood appetizer called “Coquilles St Jacques” which refers to the commercial name of that mollusk but also refers to a scallops mixture dish, cooked in oven, but mainly served in their own shell like this one. There are many recipes for Coquilles St Jacques, literally translated by “Saint Jacques Shell” and this one is my version which has always been a favorite among my friends and family. It is difficult in the US to find scallops in their shells, so I bought ceramics shells. They look like a time-consuming dish to prepare but they’re really not.

In France, we eat the red part of the scallop also (never seen it in the US since they’re not sold in their shell) and that’s what we call corail (like corral, due to its color) that is the genital part of the scallop. I realized that the French tend to eat quite everything, maybe not as much as Chinese…but still.

I haven’t flamed (flamber) anything for a long time, and that really represents the basic of French cooking. So I felt really going back to traditions by just lighting up a match.

Ingredients for 3 large or 4 small

• 1 cup shrimps, deveined and without shell
• 1 cup small scallops
• 1/2 lb cod or white fish, cut in cubes
• 1 lb mussels
• 1 shallot
• 1 cup leeks (the white part), cut crosswise
• 2 tbs heavy cream
• 2 tbs Cognac or Whiskey
• 1 tbs chopped chives
• Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the sauce

• 1 tsp butter
• 3 tsp white flour
• 1/2 cup mussel broth
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt and pepper
• a pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation

Wash and clean the mussels. Heat olive oil in a deep pot, and add mussels. Cover and let the mussels open. Keep the liquid. you should get about 1/2 cup of mussel liquid. Remove mussels from pan, and remove from their shells. Set aside.

In a pan, heat olive oil, add shallots, brown them, add leeks and cover. Cook leeks until they get soft. Add shrimps, scallops and fish. Cook at medium heat but do not over cook. Save the extra liquid you get from cooking the seafood, and add to the mussel’s liquid. Add mussels to the fish/seafood mixture. Stir well. Add cognac and flame with a match. Add cream, reduce until the cream has thickened. Stir well, add chives. Set aside.

For the sauce

Melt butter in a pot, when butter has melted, add flour and stir well, like if you’re making a roux. Add nutmeg. Add milk and liquid from mussels progressively, always stirring. Add salt and pepper. Stir until the sauce has thickened. It’s the same process as a Béchamelle sauce

Add sauce to the pan containing seafood. Mix well. Fill the ceramic shells with this mixture, if you don’t have any, you can use ramequins or any individual little dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 15 minutes until the breadcrumbs get golden. Serve very hot as an appetizer.