How To: Cook delicious moules marinière with fresh (and lively) mussels

Moules marinière is a delicious French recipe, where "moules" means mussels and "marinière" means mariner's style. It's a classic mussels dish great for any seafood and shellfish lover. But remember… classic does not have to be complicated.

Martin Breslin, Director for Culinary Operations at Harvard University, shares a simple yet elegant recipe for a popular French dish, Moules Mariniere. Mussels are an inexpensive mollusk that need little to flavor them - white wine, fresh herbs, cream, butter and shallots. It's all in the technique which is surprisingly easy and yields a flavorful seafood appetizer or entree you can literally prepare in minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

Serves 4

* 2 lbs fresh mussels, scrubbed & debearded
* 4 tbsp butter
* ¼ cup shallots, minced
* 3 cups white wine
* 1 spring thyme
* 2 bay leaves
* ½ cup heavy cream
* ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Special Equipment

* heavy-bottom skillet with lid
* slotted spoon

HOW-TO:

1. Scrub mussels with a stiff-bristle brush in cold water. Remove beards (fibers attaching mussel to shell). If any mussels are open, tap them. If they don't close right away, discard them. Also discard any mussels that have broken shells
2. Melt 4 tbsp of butter in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add shallots and sweat (cook until translucent but not browned) about 3 minutes
3. Add white wine, mussels, thyme and bay leaves. Increase heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, cover and steam mussels for 2-3 minutes or until mussels are just open, giving the pan a good shake once or twice during steaming
4. Add heavy cream and parsley to pan, stir to mix into the mussels, and remove from heat
5. Spoon into large bowls and serve with crusty bread