Normandy style mussels with cider and bacon. The sauce is the star of this dish flavoured with the bacon, cider, aromatic herbs and the juice from the cooked mussels. The dish will need seasoning with pepper but because of the bacon and mussels it should be salty enough.
Asmall bunchCurly Parsleywashed and finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Plenty of warm crusty bread
Instructions
Heat half the butter in a large heavy-bottomed pan and add the shallots and bacon.
Carefully sauté until the bacon is cooked and the shallots are soft but not over browned.
Add the bay leaf and picked thyme leaves then pour in the cider and apple brandy and bring up to the boil. Reduce the volume by about half.
Tip the mussels into the pan and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Steam for three minutes until the mussels have all started to open and remove from the heat.
Add the remaining butter and cream and cook vigorously for two more minutes to thicken the cooking liquid.
Add the parsley, replace the lid and put back on the heat for thirty seconds shaking the pan well to distribute the parsley.
Season with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately, removing any mussels which have remained closed.