Beer and Bacon Steamed Mussels

A hearty and easy one pot recipe for Entertaining On Board
Portion size: 12 servings of 4 mussels each

Serve with crusty bread for sopping up the juices. Choose a favourite local microbrew (wheat beer is best) for steaming, as well as serving alongside. This recipe doubles easily for a larger crowd.

Ingredients

    2 lb (907 g) mussels
    1 tbsp (15 mL) butter
    1 slice thick bacon, chopped
    1 rib celery, diced
    1/2 small onion, diced
    1 bay leaf
    1/4 lemon
    1 bottle (341 mL) beer
    2 tbsp (30 mL) celery leaves, minced
    2 tbsp (30 mL) parsley, minced

Preparation

Rinse mussels, pulling off any beards. Discard any mussels that do not close when tapped. Set aside.

In large shallow Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat; cook bacon, celery, onion and bay leaf, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

Squeeze juice from lemon into pan; add remaining lemon. Add beer and bring to boil.

Add mussels; reduce heat, cover and simmer until mussels open, about 10 minutes. Discard any that do not open. Discard lemon and bay leaf. Stir in celery leaves and parsley.

Nutritional Info
Per serving: about     –
cal     48
pro     3 g    
total fat     3 g    
sat. fat     1 g    
carb     3 g    
fibre     0
chol     10 mg    
sodium     90 mg    
potassium     103 mg    
% RDI:     –
calcium     1
iron     6
vit A     3
vit C     5
folate     5

With thanks to: Canadian Living Magazine: July 2009