Mussels on the beach

Last week, Jen and I escaped to the beach for an "al fresco" lunch. We took a large stock pot, pre-sliced carrot and onion, a sprig of thyme from the herb garden, a little butter, fresh bread and some chilled Muscadet. The mussels we bought en route to the beach so it was simply a matter of washing them under the cold water tap on the promenade, scraping off any barnacles with a pen-knife, pulling the beards off and washing them again. Note that any mussels which are open at this stage should be discarded.

Using a small camping stove and stock pot, we heated up the butter, fried the onion and carrots for a couple of minutes then added the wine, mussels and herbs. After a few minutes and a couple of turns, the mussels were open* and ready to enjoy in the sunshine! With a glass of Muscadet and fresh tiger bread - divine!!

* any mussels which remain closed after cooking should be discarded.