Velouté Of Morston Mussels with Crusty Bread and French Fries

Galton Blackiston's recipe for creamy, mussel soup infused with white wine, a hint of curry, and fresh spinach—topped with snipped chives. Serve with crusty bread and crispy French fries!

Ingredients

1kg mussels, scraped, debearded and cleaned
225ml white wine
50g butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 level tsp plain flour
1 level tsp medium curry powder
150ml fish or chicken stock
150ml double cream
1 x 120g pack of baby spinach leaves, washed
6 tsp snipped fresh chives to garnish

Crusty bread

Crusty bread
French fries

Method

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Mussels are best left in the fridge overnight in a bowl of lightly salted water with plain flour scattered over (the mussels ingest the flour and spit out any sand and grit).
Drain the mussels in colander then leave under cold, running water for a few minutes to get rid of any flour used to clean the mussels.
Heat a large pan over a high heat until hot. Quickly throw in the mussels and the white wine. Cover and cook over a high heat, shaking the pan until all of the mussels have opened. Drain them into a large colander, placed over a bowl to catch the cooking liquor.
Once the mussels are cool enough to handle, remove them from the shells and set aside in a bowl, discarding any that have not opened. Strain the cooking liquor through a muslin cloth into a bowl and reserve.
In another saucepan, melt the butter, then sweat the onion until soft. Stir in the flour and curry powder, then cook gently for a couple of minutes. Add the cooking liquor from the mussels and stock, stir well and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the cream, bring back to the boil and add the mussels to warm them through. Finally, just before serving, add the spinach leaves and ladle the soup into warmed bowls. Sprinkle liberally with snipped chives and serve with crusty bread and French fries.

Ingredients

1kg mussels, scraped, debearded and cleaned
225ml white wine
50g butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 level tsp plain flour
1 level tsp medium curry powder
150ml fish or chicken stock
150ml double cream
1 x 120g pack of baby spinach leaves, washed
6 tsp snipped fresh chives to garnish

Crusty bread

Crusty bread
French fries

Method

Mussels are best left in the fridge overnight in a bowl of lightly salted water with plain flour scattered over (the mussels ingest the flour and spit out any sand and grit).
Drain the mussels in colander then leave under cold, running water for a few minutes to get rid of any flour used to clean the mussels.
Heat a large pan over a high heat until hot. Quickly throw in the mussels and the white wine. Cover and cook over a high heat, shaking the pan until all of the mussels have opened. Drain them into a large colander, placed over a bowl to catch the cooking liquor.
Once the mussels are cool enough to handle, remove them from the shells and set aside in a bowl, discarding any that have not opened. Strain the cooking liquor through a muslin cloth into a bowl and reserve.
In another saucepan, melt the butter, then sweat the onion until soft. Stir in the flour and curry powder, then cook gently for a couple of minutes. Add the cooking liquor from the mussels and stock, stir well and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the cream, bring back to the boil and add the mussels to warm them through. Finally, just before serving, add the spinach leaves and ladle the soup into warmed bowls. Sprinkle liberally with snipped chives and serve with crusty bread and French fries.